TRUTH  STRANGER  THAN  FICTION. 


FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 


OF 


HIS   OWN   LIFE 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 

BY    MRS.    II.    B.    STOWE 


BOSTON: 
JOHN    P.    JEWETT    AND    COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,    OITTO  : 
HENRY    P  .    B  .    J  E  W  E  T  T . 

1858. 


Ht 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1858,  by 
JOIIN  P.  JEWETT  AND  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of 
1  'fl  •'  «-Ma,ssaclIus(»ttitS£  c j  * 


LITHOTVPED   EV   COWLES   AND   COMPANY, 

17    WASHINGTON    STREET, 

BOSTON*. 


Press  of  Gco.  C.  Rand  &  Avery. 


PREFACE. 


THE  numerous  friends  of  the  author  of  this 
little  work  will  need  no  greater  recommend 
ation  than  his  name  to  make  it  welcome. 
Among  all  the  singular  and  interesting  rec 
ords  to  which  the  institution  of  American  sla 
very  has  given  rise,  wo  know  of  none  more 
striking,  more  characteristic  and  instructive, 
than  that  of  JOSIAH  HENSON. 

Born  a  slave  —  a  slave  in  effect  in  a  hea 
then  land  —  and  under  a  heathen  master,  he 
grew  up  without  Christian  light  or  knowledge, 
and  like  the  Gentiles  spoken  of  by  St.  Paul, 
"without  the  law  did  by  nature  the  things 
that  are  written  in  the  law."  One  sermon, 
one  offer  of  salvation  by  Christ,  was  sufficient 
for  him,  as  for  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  to  make 
him  at  once  a  believer  from  the  heart  and  a 
preacher  of  Jesus. 

To  the  great  Christian  doctrine  of  forgive 
ness  of  enemies  and  the  returning  of  good  for 

iii 

M32978 


IV  PREFACE. 

evil,  he  was  by  God's  grace  made  a  fa- ill  if  til 
witness,  under  circumstances  that  try  men's 
souls  and  make  us  all  who  read  it  say,  "  lead 
us  not  into  such  temptation."  We  earnest!}7 
commend  this  portion  of  his  narrative  to  those 
who,  under  much  smaller  temptations,  think 
themselves  entitled  to  render  evil  for  evil. 

The  African  race  appear  as  yet  to  have  been 
companions  only  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ. 
In  the  melancholy  scene  of  his  death- — while 
Europe  in  the  person  of  the  Roman  delivered 
him  unto  death,  and  Asia  in  the  person  of  the 
Jew  clamored  for  his  execution — Africa  was 
represented  in  the  person  of  Simon  the  Cyre- 
nean,  who  came  patiently  bearing  after  him  the 
load  of  the  cross ;  and  ever  since  then  poor 
Africa  has  been  toiling  on,  bearing  the  weary 
cross  of  contempt  and  oppression  after  Jesus. 
But  they  who  suffer  with  him  shall  also  reign; 
and  when  the  unwritten  annals  of  slavery  shall 
appear  in  the  judgment,  many  Simons  who 
have  gone  meekly  bearing  their  cross  after 
Jesus  to  unknown  graves,  shall  rise  to  thrones 
and  crowns !  Yerily  a  day  shall  come  when 
he  shall  appear  for  these  his  hidden  ones,  and 
then  "many  that  are  last  shall  be  first,  and 
the  first  shall  be  last." 

Our  excellent  friend  has  prepared  this  edi- 


PREFACE.  V 

tion  of  his  works  for  the  purpose  of  redeem 
ing  from  slavery  a  beloved  brother,  who  has 
groaned  for  many  years  under  the  yoke  of  a 
hard  master.  Whoever  would  help  Jesus, 
were  he  sick  or  in  prison,  may  help  him  now 
in  the  person  of  these  his  little  ones,  his  af 
flicted  and  suffering  children.  The  work  is 
commended  to  the  kind  offices  of  all  who  love 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. 

H.  B.  STOWE. 

ANDOVER,  MASS.,  April  5,  1858. 
1* 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MY    BIRTH    AND    CHILDHOOD. 

Earliest  memories.  —  Born  in  Maryland.  —  My  father's 
first  appearance.  —  Attempted  outrage  on  rny  mother. 

—  My  father's  fight  with  an  overseer.  —  One  hundred 
stripes  and  his  ear  cut  off.  —  Throws  away  his  banjo 
and  becomes  morose.  —  Sold  South,     ....       1 

CHAPTER    II. 

MY    FIRST    GREAT    TRIAL. 

Origin  of  my  name.  —  A  kind  master.  —  He  is  drowned. 

—  My  mother's  prayers. — A  slave   auction.  —  Torn 
from  my  mother. —  Severe  sickness.  —  A  cruel  master. 

—  Sold  again  and  restored  to  my  mother,    ...       8 

CHAPTER    III. 

MY    BOYHOOD   AXD    YOUTH 

Early  employment.  —  Slave-life.  —  Food,  lodging,  cloth 
ing.  —  Amusements.  —  Gleams    of    sunshine.  —  My 
knight-errantry.  —  Become   an   overseer  and   general 
superintendent,     .        .        .        .  .        .         .16 

vii 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

MY      CONVERSION. 

A  good  man.  —  Hear  a  sermon  for  the  first  time.  —  Its 
effects  upon  me.  —  Prayer  and  communion.  —  Its  first 
fruits, 25 

CHAPTER   V. 

MAIMED     FOR     LIFE. 

Taking  care  of  my  drunken  master.  —  His  fight  with  an 
overseer.  —  Rescue  him.  —  Am  terribly  beaten  by  the 
overseer.  —  My  master  seeks  redress  at  law,  but  fails. 

—  Sufferings  then  and  since.  —  Retain  my  post  as  su 
perintendent,         1 

CHAPTER   VI 

A   RESPONSIBLE    JOURNEY. 

My  marriage.  —  Marriage  of  my  master.  —  His  ruin.  — 
Comes  to  me  for  aid.  —  A  great  enterprise  undertaken. 

—  Long  and  successful  journey.  —  Incidents  by  the 
way.  —  Struggle  between  inclination  and  duty.  —  Duty 
triumphant, 42 

CHAPTER  VII. 

A     NEW     HOME. 

Become 'a  Methodist  preacher. — My  poor  companions 
sold.  —  My  agony.  —  Sent  for  again.  —  Interview  with 
a  kind  Methodist  preacher.  —  Visit  free  soil  and  begin 
my  straggle  for  freedom,  ...  ,55 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

RETURN     TO     31ARYLAND. 

Reception  from  my  old  master.  —  A  slave  again.  —  Ap 
peal  to  an  old  friend.  —  Buy  my  freedom.  —  Cheated 
and  betrayed.  —  Back  to  Kentucky,  and  a  slave  again,  *>6 

CHAPTER   IX. 

TAKEN    SOUTH,   AWAY   FROM   WIFE   AND   CHILDREN. 

Start  for  New  Orleans.  —  Study  navigation  on  the  Missis 
sippi.  —  The  capts  in  struck  blind.  —  Find  some  of  my 
old  companions.  —  The  lower  depths,  .  .  ,  .79 

CHAPTER  X. 

A     TERRIBLE     TEMPTATION. 

Sigh  for  death.  —  A  murder  in  my  heart.  —  The  axo 
raised.  —  Conscience  speaks  and  I  am  saved.  —  God 
be  praised !  .  .  '  ,  .  .  .  .  .80 

CHAPTER   XI. 

PROVIDENTIAL  DELIVERANCE. 

Offered  for  sale.  —  Examined  by  purchasers.  —  Plead 
with  my  young  master  in  vain, — Man's  extremity, 
God's  opportunity.  —  Good  for  evil.  —  Return  North. 
—  My  increased  value.  —  Resolve  to  be  a  slave  no 
longer,  ...  .  .  .  .  .  .93- 

CHAPTER   XII. 

ESCAPE     FROM     BONDAGE. 

Solitary  Musings.  —  Preparations   for  flight.  —  A   long 


X  CONTENTS. 

good-night  to  master.  —  A  dark  night  on  the  river.  — 
Night  journeys  in  Indiana.  —  On  the  brink  of  starva 
tion.  —  A  kind  woman.  —  A  new  style  of  drinking  cup. 
—  Reach  Cincinnati,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .102 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

JOURNEY     TO     CANADA. 

Good  Samaritans.  —  Alone  in  the  wilderness.  —  Meet 
some  Indians.  —  Reach  Sandusky.  —  Another  friend. 
— All  aboard.  — Buffalo.  — A  "  free  nigger."  —  Frenzy 
of  joy  on  reaching  Canada, 113 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

NEW    SCENES   AND    A   NEW     DOME. 

A  poor  man  in  a  strange  land.  —  Begin  to  acquire  prop 
erty. —  Resume  preaching.  —  Boys  go  to  school. — 
What  gave  me  a  desire  to  learn  to  read.  —  A  day  of 
prayer  in  the  woods,  .  - 128 

CHAPTER   XV. 

LIFE      IN     CANADA. 

Condition  of  the  blacks  in  Canada.  —  A  tour  of  explora 
tion. —  Appeal  to  the  Legislature. — 'Improvements,  138 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

CONDUCTING-  SLAVES  TO  CANADA. 

Sympathy  for  the  slaves.  — James  Lightfoot.  —  My  first 
mission  to  the  South.  —  A  Kentucky  company  of  fugi 
tives.  —  Safe  at  home,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  144 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

SECOXD    JOURNEY    ON    THE    UNDERGROUND    RAILROAD. 

A  shower  of  stars.  —  Kcntuckians.  —  A  stratagem.  —  A 
providence.  —  Conducted  across  the  Miami  River  by  a 
cow.  —  Arrival  at  Cincinnati.  —  One  of  the  party  taken 
ill.  —  We  leave  him  to  die.  —  Meet  a  "friend."  —  A 
poor  white  man. — A  strange  impression.  —  Once  more 
in  Canada,  .  ,  .  .  .  .  .  .  159 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

HOME     AT     DAWN. 

Condition  in  Canada.  —  Efforts  in  behalf  of  my  people. 

—  Rev.   Mr.   Wilson.  —  A  convention    of   blacks.  — 
Manual-labor  school,     .         .         ...         .         .         .165 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

LUMBERING     OPERATIONS. 

Industrial  project.  —  Find  some  able  friends  in  Boston. 

—  Procure  funds  and  construct  a  saw-mill.  —  Sales  of 
lumber  in  Boston.  —  Incident  in  the  Custom  House,  173 

CHAPTER    XX. 

TISIT     TO     ENGLAND. 

Debt  on  the  institution.  —  A  new  pecuniary  enterprise.  — 
Letters  of  recommendation  to  England. — Personal 
difficulties.  —  Called  an  impostor.  —  Triumphant  vic 
tory  over  these  troubles,  179 

CHAPTER   XXI. 
THE  WORLD'S  FAIR  IN  LONDON. 
My  contribution  to  the  great  exhibition.  —  Difficulty  with 


Xll  CONTEXTS. 

the  American  superintendent.  —  Happy  release.—  The 
great  crowd.  —  A  call  from  the  Queen.  —  Medal 
awarded  to  me, ...  187 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

VISITS    TO    THE    RAGGED    SCHOOLS. 

Speech  at  Sunday  School  Anniversary.  —  Interview  with 
Lord  Grey.  —  Interview  with  the  Archbishop  of  Can 
terbury,  and  dinner  with  Lord  John  Russell,  the  great 
events  of  my  life, .194 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

CLOSING    UP   MY    LONDON    AGENCY. 

My  narrative  published. — Letter  from  home  apprising 
me  of  the  sickness  of  mv  wife.  —  Departure  from  Lon 
don.  —  Arrival  at  home.  —  Meeting  with  my  family.  — 
The  great  sorrow  of  my  life,  the  death  of  my  wife,  .  203 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CLOSING     CHAPTER. 

Containing  an  accurate  account  of  the  past  and  present 
condition  of  the  fugitive  slaves  in  Canada,  with  some 
remarks  on  their  future  prospects,  ....  209 


FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

OP 

HIS    0¥N    LIFE.: 


CHAPTER    I. 

MY   BIRTH    AND    CHILDHOOD. 

EARLIEST  MEMORIES.  —  BORN  IN  MARYLAND. — MY  FATH 
ER'S  FIRST  APPEARANCE.  —  ATTEMPTED  OUTRAGE  ON 
MY  MOTHER.  —  MY  FATHER'S  FIGHT  WITH  AN  OVER 
SEER.  —  ONE  HUNDRED  STRIPES  AND  HIS  EAR  CUT  OFF. 
—  THROWS  AWAY  HIS  BANJO  AND  BECOMES  MOROSE. — 
SOLD  SOUTH. 

THE  story  of  my  life,  which  I  am  about  to 
record,  is  one  full  of  striking  incident.  Keener 
pangs,  deeper  joys,  more  singular  vicissitudes, 
few  have  been  led  in  God's  providence  to 
experience.  As  I  look  back  on  it  through  the 
vista  of  more  than  sixty  years,  and  scene  on 
scene  it  rises  before  me,  an  ever  fresh  wonder 


2  FATHEB  BENSON'S  STOEY 

fills  my  mind.  I  delight  to  recall  it.  I  dwell 
on  it  as  did  the  Jews  on  the  marvellous  his 
tory  of  their  rescue  from  the  bondage  of 
Egypt.  Time  has  touched  with  its  mellow 
ing  fingers  its  sterner  features.  The  sufferings 
of  the  past  are  now  like  a  dream,  and  the 
enduring  lessons  left  behind  make  me  to  praise 
G(Vd'$r4t  rny  soul  has  been  tempered  by  him 
in.cSp  fiery  a  furnace  and  under  such  heavy 
'blows*  •  ''v>-  **' 

I  was  born  June  15th,  1789,  in  Charles 
county,  Maryland,  on  a  farm  belonging  to 
Mr.  Francis  Newman,  about  a  mile  from  Port 
Tobacco.  My  mother  was  a  slave  of  Dr. 
Josiah  McPherson,  but  hired  to  the  Mr.  New 
man  to  whom  my  father  belonged.  The  only 
incident  I  can  remember  which  occurred  while 
my  mother  continued  on  Mr.  Newman's  farm, 
was  the  appearance  one  day  of  my  father  with 
his  head  bloody  and  his  back  lacerated.  He 
was  beside  himself  with  mangled  rage  and 
suffering.  The  explanation  I  picked  up  from 
the  conversation  of  others  only  partially  ex 
plained  the  matter  to  my  mind  ;  but  as  I 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  6 

grew  older  I  understood  it  all.  It  seemed  the 
overseer  had  sent  my  mother  away  from  the 
other  field  hands  to  a  retired  place,  and  after 
trying  persuasion  in  vain,  had  resorted  to 
force  to  accomplish  a  brutal  purpose.  Her 
screams  aroused  my  father  at  his  distant 
work,  and  running  up,  he  found  his  wife 
struggling  with  the  man.  Furious  at  the 
sight,  he  sprung  upon  him  like  a  tiger.  In  a 
moment  the  overseer  was  down,  and,  mastered 
by  rage,  my  father  would  have  killed  him  but 
for  the  entreaties  of  my  mother,  and  the  over 
seer's  own  promise  that  nothing  should  ever 
be  said  of  the  matter.  The  promise  was  kept 
—  like  most  promises  of  the  cowardly  and  de 
based  —  as  long  as  the  danger  lasted. 

The  laws  of  slave  states  provide  means  and 
opportunities  for  revenge  so  ample,  that  mis 
creants  like  him  never  fail  to  improve  them. 
"  A  nigger  has  struck  a  white  man  ;  "  that  is 
enough  to  set  a  whole  county  on  fire ;  no  ques 
tion  is  asked  about  the  provocation.  The 
authorities  were  soon  in  pursuit  of  my  father. 
The  fact  of  the  sacrilegious  act  of  lifting  a 


4  FATHER  BENSON'S  STOUT 

hand  against  the  sacred  temple  of  a  white 
man's  body  —  a  profanity  as  blasphemous 
in  the  eye  of  a  slave-state  tribunal  as  was 
among  the  Jews  the  entrance  of  a  Gentile 
dog  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  —  this  was  all  it 
was  necessary  to  establish.  And  the  penalty 
followed :  one  hundred  lashes  on  the  bare 
back,  and  to  have  the  right  ear  nailed  to  the 
whipping-post,  and  then  severed  from  the 
body.  For  a  time  my  father  kept  out  of 
the  way,  hiding  in  the  woods,  and  at  night 
venturing  into  some  cabin  in  search  of  food. 
But  at  length  the  strict  watch  set  baffled  all 
his  efforts.  His  supplies  cut  off,  he  was  fairly 
starved  out,  and  compelled  by  hunger  to  come 
back  and  give  himself  up. 

The  day  for  the  execution  of  the  penalty 
was  appointed.  The  negroes  from  the  neigh 
boring  plantations  were  summoned,  for  their 
moral  improvement,  to  witness  the  scene.  A 
powerful  blacksmith  named  Hewes  laid  on 
the  stripes.  Fifty  were  given,  during  which 
the  cries  of  my  father  might  be  heard  a  mile, 
and  then  a  pause  ensued.  True,  he  had  struck 


OF  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  5 

a  white  man,  but  as  valuable  property  he  must 
not  be  damaged.  Judicious  men  felt  his 
pulse.  Oh!  he  could  stand  the  whole.  Again 
and  again  the  thong  fell  on  his  lacerated  back. 
His  cries  grew  fainter  and  fainter,  till  a  feeble 
groan  was  the  only  response  to  the  final 
blows.  His  head  was  then  thrust  against  the 
post,  and  his  right  ear  fastened  to  it  with  a 
tack ;  a  swift  pass  of  a  knife,  and  the  bleed 
ing  member  was  left  sticking  to  the  place. 
Then  came  a  hurra  from  the  degraded  crowd, 
and  the  exclamation,  "  That's  what  he's  got 
for  striking  a  white  man."  A  few  said,  "  it's 
a  damned  shame ;  "  but  the  majority  regarded 
it  as  but  a  proper  tribute  to  their  offended 
majesty. 

It  may  be  difficult  for  you,  reader,  to  com 
prehend  such  brutality,  and  in  the  name  of 
humanity  you  may  protest  against  the  truth 
of  these  statements.  To  you,  such  cruelty 
inflicted  on  a  man  seems  fiendish.  Ay,  on  a 
man ;  there  hinges  the  whole.  In  the  estima 
tion  of  the  illiterate,  besotted  poor  whites  who 
constituted  the  witnesses  of  such  scenes  in 
1* 


6  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

Charles  County,  Maryland,  the  man  who  did 
not  feel  rage  enough  at  hearing  of  "a  nigger" 
striking  a  white  to  be  ready  to  burn  him  alive, 
was  only  fit  to  be  lynched  out  of  the  neigh 
borhood.  A  blow  at  one  white  man  is  a  blow 
at  all ;  is  the  muttering  and  upheaving  of 
volcanic  fires,  which  underlie  and  threaten  to 
burst  forth  and  utterly  consume  the  whole 
social  fabric.  Terror  is  the  fiercest  nurse  of 
cruelty.  And  when,  in  this  our  day,  you  find 
tender  English  women  and  Christian  English 
divines  fiercely  urging  that  India  should  be 
made  one  pool  of  Sepoy  blood,  pause  a  mo 
ment  before  you  lightly  refuse  to  believe  in 
the  existence  of  such  ferocious  passions  in  the 
breasts  of  tyrannical  and  cowardly  slave-driv 
ers. 

Previous  to  this  affair  my  father,  from  all 
I  can  learn,  had  been  a  good-humored  and 
light-hearted  man>  the  ringleader  in  all  fun  at 
corn-huskings  and  Christmas  buffoonery.'  His 
banjo  was  the  life  of  the  farm,  and  all  night 
long  at  a  merry-making  would  he  play  on  it 
while  the  other  negroes  danced.  But  from 


OF  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  7 

this  hour  he  became  utterly  changed.  Sullen, 
morose,  and  dogged,  nothing  could  be  done 
with  him.  The  milk  of  human  kindness  in 
his  heart  was  turned  to  gall.  He  brooded 
over  his  wrongs.  No  fear  or  threats  of  being 
sold  to  the  far  south  —  the  greatest  of  all  ter 
rors  to  the  Maryland  slave  —  would  render 
him  tractable.  So  off  he  was  sent  to  Ala 
bama.  What  was  his  after  fate  neither  my 
mother  nor  I  have  ever  learned ;  the  great  day 
will  reveal  all.  This  was  the  first  chapter  in 
my  history. 


FATHER  BENSON'S  STOIIY 


CHAPTER  II. 

MY  FIRST   GREAT  TRIAL. 

ORIGIN  OF  MY  NAME. — A  KIND  MASTER. — HE  IS  DROWNED. 
— MY  MOTHER'S  PRAYERS.  —  A  SLAVE  AUCTION.  —  TORN 
FROM  MY  MOTHER. — SEVERE  SICKNESS.  —  A  CRUEL  MAS 
TER. —  SOLD  AGAIN  AND  RESTORED  TO  MY  MOTHER. 

AFTER  the  sale  of  my  father  by  Newman, 
Dr.  McPherson  would  no  longer  hire  out  my 
mother  to  him.  She  returned,  accordingly,  to 
his  estate.  He  was  far  kinder  to  his  slaves 
than  the  planters  generally  were,  never  suffer 
ing  them  to  be  struck  by  any  one.  He  was  a 
man  of  good,  kind  impulses,  liberal,  jovial, 
hearty.  No  degree  of  arbitrary  power  could 
ever  lead  him  to  cruelty.  As  the  first  negro- 
child  ever  born  to  him,  I  was  his  especial  pet. 
He  gave  me  his  own  Christian  name,  Josiah, 
and  with  that  he  also  gave  me  my  last  name, 
Henson,  after  an  uncle  of  his,  who  was  an 


OF  HIS  OWN   LIFE.  9 

officer  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  A  bright 
spot  in  my  childhood  was  my  residence  with 
him  —  bright,  but,  alas!  fleeting.  Events 
were  rapidly  maturing  which  were  to  change 
the  whole  aspect  of  my  life.  The  kind  Doc 
tor  was  not  exempt  from  that  failing  which 
too  often  besets  easy,  social  natures  in  a  dis 
sipated  community.  He  could  not  restrain 
his  convivial  propensities.  Although  he  main 
tained  a  high  reputation  for  goodness  of 
heart  and  an  almost  saint-like  benevolence, 
the  habit  of  intemperance  steadily  gained 
ground,  and  finally  occasioned  his  death. 
Two  negroes  on  the  plantation  found  him 
one  morning  lying  dead  in  the  middle  of  a 
narrow  stream,  not  a  foot  in  depth.  He  had 
been  away  the  night  previous  at  a  social 
party,  and  when  returning  home  had  fallen 
from  his  horse,  probably,  and  being  too  intoxi 
cated  to  stagger  through  the  stream,  fell  and 
was  drowned.  "  There's  the  place  where 
massa  got  drownded  at ; "  h6w  well  I  remem 
ber  having  it  pointed  out  to  me  in  those  very 
words. 


'10  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

For  two  or  three  years  my  mother  and  her 
young  family  of  six  children  had  resided  on 
this  estate ;  and  we  had  been  in  the  main  very 
happy.  She  was  a  good  mother  to  us,  a 
woman  of  deep  piety,  anxious  above  all  things 
to  touch  our  hearts  with  a  sense  of  religion. 
How  or  where  she  acquired  her  knowledge  of 
God,  or  her  acquaintance  with  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  which  she  so  frequently  taught  us  to 
repeat,  I  am  unable  to  say.  I  remember  see 
ing  her  often  on  her  knees,  trying  to  arrange 
her  thoughts  in  prayer  appropriate  to  her  situ 
ation,  but  which  amounted  to  little  more  than 
constant  ejaculations,  and  the  repetition  of 
short  phrases  which  were  within  my  infant 
comprehension,  and  have  remained  in  my 
memory  to  this  hour. 

Our  term  of  happy  union  as  one  family  was 
now,  alas !  at  an  end.  Mournful  as  was  the 
Doctor's  death  to  his  friends  it  was  a  far 
greater  calamity  to  us.  The  estate  and  the 
slaves  must  be  sold  and  the  proceeds  divided 
among  the  heirs.  We  were  but  property  — 


OF  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  11 

not  a  mother,  and  the  children  God  had  given 
her. 

Common  as  are  slave-auctions  in  the  south 
ern  states,  and  naturally  as  a  slave  may  look 
forward  to  the  time  when  he  will  be  put  up 
on  the  block,  still  the  full  misery  of  the  event 
—  of  the  scenes  which  precede  and  succeed 
it  —  is  never  understood  till  the  actual  experi 
ence  comes.  The  first  sad  announcement 
that  the  sale  is  to  be ;  the  knowledge  that  all 
ties  of  the  past  are  to  be  sundered ;  the  frantic 
terror  at  the  idea  of  being  sent  "down  south;" 
the  almost  certainty  that  one  member  of  a 
family  will  be  torn  from  another ;  the  anxious 
scanning  of  purchasers'  faces ;  the  agony  at 
parting,  often  forever,  with  husband,  wife, 
child — these  must  be  seen  and  felt  to  be  fully 
understood.  Young  as  I  was  then,  the  iron 
entered  into  my  soul.  The  remembrance  of 
the  breaking  up  of  McPherson's  estate  is  pho 
tographed  in  its  minutest  features  in  my  mind. 
The  crowd  collected  round  the  stand,  the  hud 
dling  group  of  negroes,  the  examination  of 
muscle,  teeth,  the  exhibition  of  agility,  the 


1.2  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

look  of  the  auctioneer,  the  agony  of  my 
mother  —  I  can  shut  my  eyes  and  see  them 
all 

My  brothers  and  sisters  were  bid  off  first, 
and  one  by  one,  while  my  mother,  paralyzed 
by  grief,  held  me  by  the  hand.  Her  turn 
came,  and  she  was  bought  by  Isaac  Kiley  of 
Montgomery  county.  Then  I  was  offered  to 
the  assembled  purchasers.  My  mother,  half 
distracted  with  the  thought  of  parting  forever 
from  all  her  children,  pushed  through  the 
crowd,  while  the  bidding  for  me  was  going  on, 
to  the  spot  where  Riley  was  standing.  She 
fell  at  his  feet,  and  clung  to  his  knees,  entreat 
ing  him  in  tones  that  a  mother  only  could 
command,  to  buy  her  baby  as  well  as  herself, 
and  spare  to  her  one,  at  least,  of  her  little  ones. 
Will  it,  can  it  be  believed  that  this  man,  thus 
appealed  to,  was  capable  not  merely  of  turn 
ing  a  deaf  ear  to  her  supplication,  but  of  disen 
gaging  himself  from  her  with  such  violent 
blows  and  kicks,  as  to  reduce  her  to  the  neces 
sity  of  creeping  out  of  his  reach,  and  mingling 
the  groan  of  bodily  suffering  with  the  sob  of  a 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  13 

breaking  heart?  As  she  crawled  away  from 
the  brutal  man  I  heard  her  sob  out,  "  Oh,  Lord 
Jesus,  how  long,  how  long  shall  I  suffer  this 
way ! "  I  must  have  been  then  between  five 
and  six  years  old.  I  seem  to  see  and  hear  my 
poor  weeping  mother  now.  This  was  one  of 
my  earliest  observations  of  men ;  an  experience 
which  I  only  shared  with  thousands  of  my 
race,  the  bitterness  of  which  to  any  individual 
who  suffers  it  cannot  be  diminished  by  the  fre 
quency  of  its  recurrence,  while  it  is  dark 
enough  to  overshadow  the  whole  after-life  with 
something  blacker  than  a  funeral  pall. 

I  was  bought  by  a  stranger  named  Robb, 
and  truly  a  robber  he  was  to  me.  He  took  me 
to  his  home,,  about  forty  miles  distant,  and  put 
me  into  his  negro  quarters  with  about  forty 
others,  of  all  ages,  colors,  and  conditions,  all 
strangers  to  me.  Of  course  nobody  cared  for 
me.  The  slaves  were  brutalized  by  this  degra 
dation,  and  had  no  sympathy  for  me.  I  soon 
fell  sick,  and  lay  for  some  days  almost  dead 
on  the  ground.  Sometimes  a  slave  would 
give  me  a  piece  of  corn  bread  or  a  bit  of  her- 
9 


14  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

ring.  Finally  I  became  so  feeble  that  I  could 
not  move.  This,  however,  was  fortunate  for 
me ;  for  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  Robb 
met  Eiley,  who  had  bought  my  mother,  and 
offered  to  sell  me  to  him  cheap.  Riley  said 
he  was  afraid  "  the  little  devil  would  die,"  and 
he  did  not  want  to  buy  a  "  dead  nigger ; "  but 
he  agreed,  finally,  to  pay  a  small  sum  for  me 
in  horse-shoeing  if  I  lived,  and  nothing  if  I 
died.  Robb  was  a  tavern  keeper,  and  owned 
a  line  of  stages  with  the  horses,  and  lived  near 
Montgomery  court-house;  Riley  carried  on 
blacksmithing  about  five  miles  from  that  place. 
This  clenched  the  bargain,  and  I  was  soon  sent 
to  my  mother.  A  blessed  change  it  was.  I 
had  been  lying  on  a  lot  of  rags  thrown  on  a 
dirt  floor.  All  day  long  I  had  been  left  alone, 
crying  for  water,  crying  for  mother ;  the  slaves, 
who  all  left  at  daylight,  when  they  returned, 
caring  nothing  for  me.  Now,  I  was  once 
more  with  my  best  friend  on  earth,  and  under 
her  care ;  destitute  as  she  was  of  the  proper 
means  of  nursing  me,  I  recovered  my  health, 


OP   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  15 

and  grew  to  be  an  uncommonly  vigorous  boy 
and  man. 

The  character  of  Klley,  the  master  whom  I 
faithfully  served  for  many  years,  is  by  no 
means  an  uncommon  one  in  any  part  of  the 
world ;  the  evil  is,  that  a  domestic  institution 
should  anywhere  put  it  in  the  power  of  such 
a  one  to  tyrannize  over  his  fellow  beings,  and 
inflict  so  much  needless  misery  as  is  sure  to  be 
inflicted  by  such  a  man  in  such  a  position. 
Coarse  and  vulgar  in  his  habits,  unprincipled 
arid  cruel  in  his  general  deportment,  and  espe 
cially  addicted  to  the  vice  of  licentiousness, 
his  slaves  had  little  opportunity  for  relaxation 
from  wearying  labor,  were  supplied  with  the 
scantiest  means  of  sustaining  their  toil  by 
necessary  food,  and  had  no  security  for  per 
sonal  rights.  The  natural  tendency  of  slavery 
is  to  convert  the  master  into  a  tyrant,  and  the 
slave  into  the  cringing,  treacherous,  false,  and 
thieving  victim  of  tyranny.  Biley  and  his 
slaves  were  no  exception  to  the  general  rule, 
but  might  be  cited  as  apt  illustrations  of  the 
nature  of  the  relation. 


16  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER   III. 

MY  BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

EARLY      EMPLOYMENT.  —  SLATE-LIFE.  FOOD,       LODGING, 

CLOTHING.  —  AMUSEMENTS. — GLEAMS     OF     SUNSHINE. 

MY     KNIGHT-ERRANTRY. BECOME     AN     OVERSEER     AND 

GENERAL    SUPERINTENDENT. 

My  earliest  employments  were,  to  carry 
buckets  of  water  to  the  men  at  work,  and  to 
hold  a  horse-plough,  used  for  weeding  between 
the  rows  of  corn.  As  I  grew  older  and  taller, 
I  was  entrusted  with  the  care  of  master's  sad 
dle-horse.  Then  a  hoe  was  put  into  my 
hands,  and  I  was  soon  required  to  do  the 
day's  work  of  a  man ;  and  it  was  not  long  be 
fore  I  could  do  it,  at  least  as  well  as  my  asso 
ciates  in  misery. 

The  every-day  life  of  a  slave  on  one  of  our 
southern  plantations,  however  frequently  it 
may  have  been  described,  is  generally  little 


OF  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  17 

understood  at  the  north;  and  must  be  men 
tioned  as  a  necessary  illustration  of  the  char 
acter  and  habits  of  the  slave  and  the  slave 
holder,  created  and  perpetuated  by  their  rela 
tive  position.  The  principal  food  of  those 
upon  my  master's  plantation  consisted  of 
corn-meal,  and  salt  herrings ;  to  which  was 
added  in  summer  a  little  buttermilk,  and  the 
few  vegetables  which  each  might  raise  for 
himself  and  his  family,  on  the  little  piece  of 
ground  which  was  assigned  to  him  for  the 
purpose,  called  a  truck  patch. 

In  ordinary  times  we  had  two  regular  meals 
in  a  day :  —  breakfast  at  twelve  o'clock,  after 
laboring  from  daylight,  and  supper  when  the 
work  of  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  over. 
In  harvest  season  we  had  three.  Our  dress 
was  of  tow-cloth;  for  the  children  nothing 
but  a  shirt ;  for  the  older  ones  a  pair  of  pan 
taloons  or  a  gown  in  addition,  according  to 
the  sex.  Besides  these,  in  the  winter  a  round 
jacket  or  overcoat,  a  wool  hat  once  in  two  or 
three  years,  for  the  males,  and  a  pair  of  coarse 
shoes  once  a  year. 


18  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

We  lodged  in  log  huts,  and  on  the  bare 
ground.  Wooden  floors  were  an  unknown 
luxury.  In  a  single  room  were  huddled,  like 
cattle,  ten  or  a  dozen  persons,  men,  women 
and  children.  All  ideas  of  refinement  and 
decency  were,  of  course,  out  of  the  question. 
There  were  neither  bedsteads,  nor  furniture 
of  any  description.  Our  beds  were  collections 
of  straw  and  old  rags,  thrown  down  in  the 
corners  and  boxed  in  with  boards;  a  single 
blanket  the  only  covering.  Our  favorite  way 
kof  sleeping,  however,  was  on  a  plank,  our 
heads  raised  on  an  old  jacket  and  our  feet 
toasting  before  the  smouldering  fire.  The 
wind  whistled  and  the  rain  and  snow  blew  in 
through  the  cracks,  and  the  damp  earth  soaked 
in  the  moisture  till  the  floor  was  miry  as  a 
pi-g-sty.  Such  were  our  houses.  In  these 
wretched  hovels  were  we  penned  at  night,  and 
fed  by  day ;  here  were  the  children  born  and 
the  sick  —  neglected. 

Notwithstanding  this  system  of  manage 
ment  I  grew  to  be  a  robust  and  vigorous  lad. 
At  fifteen  years  of  age  there  were  few  who 


OF   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  19 

could  compete  with  me  in  work  or  sport.  I 
was  as  lively  as  a  young  buck,  and  running 
over  with  animal  spirits.  I  could  run  faster, 
wrestle  better,  and  jump  higher  than  anybody 
about  me,  and  at  an  evening  shakedown  in 
our  own  or  a  neighbor's  kitchen,  my  feet 
became  absolutely  invisible  from  the  rate  at 
which  they  moved.  All  this  caused  my  mas 
ter  and  my  fellow  slaves  to  look  upon  me  as 
a  wonderfully  smart  fellow,  and  prophecy  the 
great  things  I  should  do  when  I  became  a 
man.  My  vanity  became  vastly  inflamed,  and 
I  fully  coincided  in  their  opinion.  Julius 
Ccesar  never  aspired  and  plotted  for  the  impe 
rial  crown  more  ambitiously  than  did  I  to 
out-hoe,  out-reap,  out-husk,  out-dance,  out- 
everything  every  competitor ;  and  from  all  I 
can  learn  he  never  enjoyed  his  triumph  half 
as  much.  One  word  of  commendation  from 
the  petty  despot  who  ruled  over  us  would  set 
me  up  for  a  month. 

I  have  no  desire  to  represent  the  life  of  sla 
very  as  an  experience  of  nothing  but  misery. 
God  be  praised,  that  however  hedged  in  by 


20  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

circumstances,  the  joyful  exuberance  of  youth 
will  bound  at  times  over  them  all.  Ours  is  a 
light-hearted  race.  The  sternest  and  most 
covetous  master  cannot  frighten  or  whip  the 
fun  out  of  us ;  certainly  old  Riley  never  did 
out  of  me.  In  those  days  I  had  many  a 
merry  time,  and  would  have  had,  had  I  lived 
with  nothing  but  moccasins  and  rattle-snakes 
in  Okafenoke  swamp.  Slavery  did  its  best  to 
make  me  wretched ;  I  feel  no  particular  obli 
gation  to  it ;  but  nature,  or  the  blessed  God 
of  youth  and  joy,  was  mightier  than  slavery. 
Along  with  memories  of  miry  cabins,  frosted 
feet,  weary  toil  under  the  blazing  sun,  curses 
and  blows,  there  fleck  in  others,  of  jolly 
Christmas  times,  dances  before  old  massa's 
door  for  the  first  drink  of  egg-nog,  extra  meat 
at  holiday  times,  midnight  visits  to  apple 
orchards,  broiling  stray  chickens,  and  first- 
rate  tricks  to  dodge  work.  The  God  who 
makes  the  pup  gambol,  and  the  kitten  play, 
and  the  bird  sing,  and  the  fish  leap,  was  the 
author  in  me  of  many  a  light-hearted  hour. 
True  it  was,  indeed,  that  the  fun  and  freedom 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  21 

of  Christmas,  at  which  time  my  master  re 
laxed  his  front,  was  generally  followed  up  by 
a  portentous  back-action,  under  which  he 
drove  and  cursed  worse  than  ever;  still  the 
Jfun  and  freedom  were  fixed  facts;  we  had  had 
them  and  he  could  not  help  it. 

Besides  these  pleasant  memories  I  have 
others  of  a  deeper  and  richer  kind.  I  early 
learned  to  employ  my  spirit  of  adventure  for 
the  benefit  of  my  fellow-sufferers.  The  con 
dition  of  the  male  slave  is  bad  enough ;  but 
that  of  the  female,  compelled  to  perform  unfit 
labor,  sick,  suffering,  and  bearing  the  peculiar 
burdens  of  her  own  sex  unpitied  and  unaided, 
as  well  as  the  toils  which  belong  to  the  other, 
is  one  that  must  arouse  the  spirit  of  sympathy 
in  every  heart  not  dead  to  all  feeling.  The 
miseries  which  I  saw  many  of  the  women  suf 
fer  often  oppressed  me  with  a  load  of  sorrow. 
No  white  knight,  rescuing  white  fair  ones  from 
cruel  oppression,  ever  felt  the  throbbing  of  a 
chivalrous  heart  more  intensely  than  I,  a  black 
knight,  did,  in  running  down  a  chicken  in  an 
out-of-the  way  place  to  hide  till  dark,  and  then 


22  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

carry  to  some  poor  overworked  black  fair  one, 
to  whom  it  was  at  once  food,  luxury,  and 
medicine.  No  Scotch  borderer,  levying  black 
mail  or  sweeping  off  a  drove  of  cattle,  ever  felt 
more  assured  of  the  justice  of  his  act  than  ^ 
of  mine,  in  driving  a  mile  or  two  into  the 
woods  a  pig  or  a  sheep,  and  slaughtering  it  for 
the  good  of  those  whom  Riley  was  starving. 
I  felt  good,  moral,  heroic.  The  beautiful  com 
bination  of  a  high  time  and  a  benevolent  act 
— the  harmonious  interplay  of  nature  and 
grace — was  absolutely  entrancing.  I  felt  then 
the  excellency  of  a  sentiment  I  have  since 
found  expressed  in  a  hymn : 

"  Religion  never  was  designed  /- 

To  make  our  pleasures  less." 

Was  this  wrong  ?  I  can  only  say  in  reply, 
that,  at  this  distance  of  time,  my  conscience 
does  not  reproach  me  for  it.  Then  I  esteemed 
it  among  the  best  of  my  deeds.  It  was  my 
training  in  the  luxury  of  doing  good,  in  the 
divinity  of  a  sympathetic  heart,  in  the  right 
eousness  of  indignation  against  the  cruel  and 


OP  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  23 

oppressive.  There  and  then  was  my  soul 
made  conscious  of  its  heavenly  original.  This, 
too,  was  all  the  chivalry  of  which  my  circum 
stances  and  condition  in  life  admitted.  I  love 
the  sentiment  in  its  splendid  environment  of 
castles,  and  tilts,  and  gallantry;  but  having 
fallen  on  other  times,  I  love  it  also  in  the 
homely  guise  of  Sambo  as  Paladin,  Dinah  as 
outraged  maiden,  and  old  Eiley  as  grim  op 
pressor. 

By  means  of  the  influence  thus  acquired, 
the  increased  amount  of  work  thus  done  upon 
the  farm,  and  by  the  detection  of  the  knavery 
of  the  overseer,  who  plundered  his  employer 
for  more  selfish  ends,  and  through  my  watch 
fulness  was  caught  in  the  act  and  dismissed,  I 
was  promoted  to  be  superintendent  of  the  farm 
work,  and  managed  to  raise  more  than  double 
the  crops,  with  more  cheerful  and  willing  labor, 
than  was  ever  seen  on  the  estate  before. 

Yes,  I  was  now  practically  overseer.  My 
pride  and  ambition  had  made  me  master  of 
every  kind  of  farm  work.  But  like  all  am 
bition  its  reward  was  increase  of  burdens. 


24  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

The  crops  of  wheat,  oats,  barley,  potatoes, 
corn,  tobacco,  all  had  to  be  cared  for  by  me. 
I  was  often  compelled  to  start  at  midnight 

kfl^ 

with  the  wagon  for  the  distant  market,  to  drive 
on  through  mud  and  rain  till  morning,  sell  the 
produce,  reach  home  hungry  and  tired,  and 
nine  times  out  of  ten  reap  my  sole  reward  in 
curses  for  not  getting  higher  prices.  My  mas 
ter  was  a  fearful  blasphemer.  Clearly  as  he 
saw  my  profitableness  to  him,  he  was  too  much 
of  a  brute,  and  too  great  a  fool  through  his 
brutality,  to  reward  me  with  kindness  or  even 
decent  treatment.  Previous  to  my  attaining 
this  important  station,  however,  an  incident 
occurred  which  produced  so  powerful  an  influ 
ence  on  my  intellectual  development,  my  pros 
pect  of  improvement  in  character,  as  well  as 
condition,  my  chance  of  religious  culture,  and 
in  short,  on  my  whole  nature,  body  and  soul, 
that  it  deserves  especial  notice  and  com 
memoration.  This,  however,  requires  another 
chapter. 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  25 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MY    CONVERSION. 

A    GOOD    MAN. — HEAR   A    SERMON    FOR    THE    FIRST    TIME. 

ITS  EFFECT  UPON  ME. — PRAYER  AND   COMMUNION. — ITS 
FIRST    FRUITS. 

MY  heart  exults  with  gratitude  when  I 
mention  the  name  of  a  good  man  who  first 
taught  me  the  blessedness  of  religion.  His 
name  was  John  McKenny.  He  lived  at 
Georgetown,  a  few  miles  only  from  Eiley's 
plantation  ;  his  business  was  that  of  a  baker, 
and  his  character  was  that  of  an  upright, 
benevolent  Christian.  He  was  noted  espec* 
ially  for  his  detestation  of  slavery,  and  his 
resolute  avoidance  of  the  employment  of 
slave  labor  in  his  business.  He  would  not 
even  hire  a  slave,  the  price  of  whose  toil  must 
be  paid  to  his  master,  but  contented  himself 
with  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  and  with 
3 


26  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

such  free  labor  as  he  could  procure.  His  rep 
utation  was  high,  not  only  for  this  almost  sin 
gular  abstinence  from  what  no  one  about  him 
thought  wrong,  but  for  his  general  probity 
and  excellence.  This  man  occasionally  served 
as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  preached  in 
a  neighborhood  where  preachers  were  some 
what  rare  at  that  period.  One  Sunday  when 
he  was  to  officiate  in  this  way,  at  a  place 
three  or  four  miles  distant,  my  mother  urged 
me  to  ask  master's  permission  to  go  and  hear 
him.  I  had  so  often  been  beaten  for  making 
such  a  request  that  I  refused  to  make  it.  She 
still  persisted,  telling  me  that  I  could  never 
become  a  Christian  if  I  minded  beatings  — 
that  I  must  take  up  rny  cross  and  bear  it. 
She  was  so  grieved  at  my  refusal  that  she 
wept.  To  gratify  her  I  concluded  to  try  the 
experiment,  and  accordingly  went  to  my  mas 
ter  and  asked  permission  to  attend  the  meet 
ing.  Although  such  permission  was  not 
given  freely  or  often,  yet  his  favor  to  me  was 
shown  for  this  once  by  allowing  me  to  go, 
without  much  scolding,  but  not  without  a 


OF   HIS    OWN   LIFE.  27 

pretty  distinct  intimation  of  what  would  be 
fall  me  if  I  did  not  return  immediately  after 
the  close  of  the  service.  I  hurried  off,  pleased 
with  the  opportunity,  but  without  any  definite 
expectations  of  benefit  or  amusement ;  for  up 
to  this  period  of  my  life,  and  I  was  then 
eighteen  years  old,  I  had  never  heard  a  ser 
mon,  nor  any  discourse  or  conversation  what 
ever,  upon  religious  topics,  except  what  I  had 
heard  from  my  mother,  on  the  responsibility 
of  all  to  a  Supreme  Being.  When  I  arrived 
at  the  place  of  meeting,  the  services  were  so 
far  advanced  that  the  speaker  was  just  begin 
ning  his  discourse,  from  the  text,  Hebrews  ii. 
9  :  "  That  he,  by  the  grace  of  God,  should 
taste  of  death  for  every  man."  This  was  the 
first  text  of  the  Bible  to  which  I  had  ever  lis 
tened,  knowing  it  to  be  such.  I  have  never 
forgotten  it,  and  scarcely  a  day  has  passed 
since,  in  which  I  have  not  recalled  it,  and  the 
sermon  that  was  preached  from  it. 

The  divine  character  of  Jesus  Christ,  his 
tender  love  for  mankind,  his  forgiving  spirit 
his  compassion  for  the  outcast  and  despised, 


28  FATHER   HENSON'S  STORY 

his  cruel  crucifixion  and  glorious  ascension, 
were  all  depicted,  and  some  of  the  points 
were  dwelt  on  with  great  power ;  great,  at 
least,  to  me,  who  then  heard  of  these  things 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life.  Again  and  again 
did  the  preacher  reiterate  the  words  "/or 
every  man."  These  glad  tidings,  this  salva 
tion,  were  not  for  the  benefit  of  a  select  few 
only.  They  were  for  the  slave  as  well  as  the 
master,  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  for  the 
persecuted,  the  distressed,  the  heavy-laden,  the 
captive  ;  for  me  among  the  rest,  a  poor,  des 
pised,  abused  creature,  deemed  of  others  fit 
for  nothing  but  unrequited  toil  —  but  mental 
and  bodily  degradation.  O,  the  blessedness 
and  sweetness  of  feeling  that  I  was  LOVED  ! 
I  would  have  died  that  moment,  with  joy,  for 
the  compassionate  Saviour  about  whom  I 
was  hearing.  "  He  loves  me,"  "  he  looks  down 
in  compassion  from  heaven  on  me,"  "  he  died 
to  save  my  soul,"  "  he'll  welcome  me  to  the 
skies,"  I  kept  repeating  to  myself.  I  was 
transported  with  delicious  joy.  I  seemed  to 
see  a  glorious  being,  in  a  cloud  of^splendor, 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  29 

smiling  down  from  on  high.  In  sharp  con 
trast  with  the  experience  of  the  contempt  and 
brutality  of  my  earthly  master,  I  basked  in 
the  sunshine  of  the  benignity  of  this  divine 
being.  "  He'll  be  my  dear  refuge  —  he'll  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  my  eyes."  "  Now  I  can 
bear  all  things  ;  nothing  will  seem  hard  after 
this."  I  felt  sorry  that  "  Massa  Riley  "  didn't 
know  him,  sorry  he  should  live  such  a  coarse, 
wicked,  cruel  life.  Swallowed  up  in  the 
beauty  of  the  divine  love,  I  loved  my  enemies, 
and  prayed  for  them  that  did  despitefully  use 
and  entreat  me. 

Revolving  the  things  which  I  had  heard  in 
my  mind  as  I  went  home,  I  became  so  excited 
that  I  turned  aside  from  the  road  into  the 
woods,  and  prayed  to  God  for  light  and  for 
aid  with  an  earnestness,  which,  however  unen 
lightened,  was  at  least  sincere  and  heartfelt ; 
and  which  the  subsequent  course  of  my  life 
has  led  me  to  imagine  was  acceptable  to  Him 
who  heareth  prayer.  At  all  events,  I  date  my 
conversion,  and  my  awakening  to  a  new  life 
—  a  consciousness  of  power  and  a  destiny 


30  FATHER  IIENSON'S  STORY 

superior  to  any  thing  I  had  before  conceived 
of — from  this  day,  so  memorable  to  me.  I 
used  every  means  and  opportunity  of  inquiry 
into  religious  matters ;  and  so  deep  was  my 
conviction  of  their  superior  importance  to 
every  thing  else,  so  clear  my  perception  of  my 
own  faults,  and  so  undoubting  my  observation 
of  the  darkness  and  sin  that  surrounded  me, 
that  I  could  not  help  talking  much  on  these 
subjects  with  those  about  me ;  and  it  was  not 
long  before  I  began  to  pray  with  them,  and 
exhort  them,  and  to  impart  to  the  poor  slaves 
those  little  glimmerings  of  light  from  another 
world,  which  had  reached  my  own  eye.  In  a 
few  years  I  became  quite  an  esteemed  preach 
er  among  them,  and  I  will  not  believe  it  is 
vanity  which  leads  me  to  think  I  was  useful 
to  some. 

I  must  return,  however,  for  the  present,  to 
the  course  of  my  life  in  secular  affairs,  the 
facts  of  which  it  is  my  principal  object  to 
relate. 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  31 


CHAPTER   V. 

MAIMED    FOE    LIFE. 

TAKING    CARE  OF  MY  DRUNKEN  MASTER.  —  HIS  FIGHT  WITH 

AN    OVERSEER. RESCUE    HIM. AM     TERRIBLY     BEATEN 

BY    THE     OVERSEER. MY     MASTER     SEEKS     REDRESS    AT 

LAW,     BUT     FAILS.  —  SUFFERINGS     THEN     AND     SINCE. — 
RETAIN   MY   POST   AS   SUPERINTENDENT. 

THE  difference  between  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  designed  that  all  men  should 
regard  one  another  as  children  of  the  same. 
Father,  and  the  manner  in  which  men  actu 
ally  do  treat  each  other,  as  if  they  were  placed 
here  for  mutual  annoyance  and  destruction,  is 
well  exemplified  by  an  incident  that  happened 
to  me  within  a  year  or  two  from  this  period ; 
that  is,  when  I  was  nineteen  or  twenty  years 
old.  My  master's  habits  were  such  as  were 
common  enough  among  the  dissipated  plant 
ers  of  the  neighborhood ;  and  one  of  their  fre- 


32  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

quent  practices  was  to  assemble  on  Saturday 
or  Sunday,  which  were  their  holidays,  and 
gamble,  run  horses,  or  fight  game-cocks,  dis 
cuss  politics,  and  drink  whiskey  and  brandy 
and  water  all  day  long.  Perfectly  aware  that 
they  would  not  be  able  to  find  their  own  way 
home  at  night,  each  one  ordered  his  body-ser 
vant  to  come  after  him  and  help  him  home. 
I  was  chosen  for  this  confidential  duty  by  my 
master;  and  many  is  the  time  I  have  held  him 
on  his  horse,  when  he  could  not  hold  himself 
in  the  saddle,  and  walked  by  his  side  in  dark 
ness  and  mud  from  the  tavern  to  his  house. 
Of  course,  quarrels  and  brawls  of  the  most 
violent  description  were  frequent  consequences 
of  these  meetings;  and  whenever  they  became 
especially  dangerous,  and  glasses  were  thrown, 
dirks  drawn,  and  pistols  fired,  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  slaves  to  rush  in,  and  each  one  drag  his 
master  from  the  fight,  and  carry  him  home. 
To  tell  the  truth,  this  was  a  part  of  my  busi 
ness  for  which  I  felt  no  reluctance.  I  was 
young,  remarkably  athletic  and  self-relying, 
and  in  such  affrays  I  carried  it  with  a  high 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  33 

hand,  and  would  elbow  my  way  among  the 
whites,  —  whom  it  would  have  been  almost 
death  for  me  to  strike,  —  seize  my  master  and 
drag  him  out,  mount  him  on  his  horse,  or 
crowd  him  into  his  buggy,  with  the  ease  with 
which  I  would  handle  a  bag  of  corn.  I  knew 
that  I  was  doing  for  him  what  he  could  not 
do  for  himself,  and  showing  my  superiority  to 
others,  and  acquiring  their  respect  in  some 
degree,  at  the  same  time. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  my  master  got 
into  a  quarrel  with  his  brother's  overseer, 
Bryce  Litton.  All  present  sided  with  Litton 
against  him,  and  soon  there  was  a  general 
row.  I  was  sitting,  at  the  time,  out  on  the 
front  steps  of  the  tavern,  and,  hearing  the 
scuffle,  rushed  in  to  look  after  my  charge. 
My  master,  a  stout  man  and  a  terrible  bruiser, 
could  generally  hold  his  own  in  an  ordinary 
general  fight,  and  clear  a  handsome  space 
around  him ;  but  now  he  was  cornered,  and  a 
dozen  were  striking  at  him  with  fists,  crockery, 
chairs,  and  anything  that  came  handy.  The 
moment  he  saw  me  he  hallooed,  "  That's  it, 


34  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

Sie !  pitch  in !  show  me  fair  play."  It  was  a 
rough  business,  and  I  went  in  roughly,  shov 
ing,  tripping,  and  doing  my  best  for  the  rescue. 
With  infinite  trouble,  and  many  a  bruise  on 
my  own  head  and  shoulders,  I  at  length  got 
him  out  of  the  room.  He  was  crazy  with 
drink  and  rage,  and  struggled  hard  with  me  to 
get  back  and  renew  the  fight.  But  I  managed 
to  force  him  into  his  wagon,  jump  in,  and 
drive  off. 

By  ill-luck,  in  the  height  of  the  scuffle,  Bryce 
Litton  got  a  severe  fall.  Whether  the  whisky 
he  had  drank,  or  a  chance  shove  from  me,  was 
the  cause,  I  am  unable  to  say.  He,  however, 
attributed  it  to  me,  and  treasured  up  his  ven 
geance  for  the  first  favorable  opportunity. 
The  opportunity  soon  came. 

About  a  week  afterwards  I  was  sent  by  my 
master  to  a  place  a  few  miles  distant,  on  horse 
back,  with  some  letters.  I  took  a  short  cut 
through  a  lane,  separated  by  gates  from  the 
high  road,  and  bounded  by  a  fence  on  each 
side.  This  lane  passed  through  some  of  the 
farm  owned  by  my  master's  brother,  and  his 


OP   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  35 

overseer  was  in  the  adjoining  field,  with  three 
negroes,  when   I  went   by.      On  my  return, 
half  an  hour  afterwards,  the  overseer  was  sit 
ting  on  the  fence ;  but  I  could  see  nothing  of 
the  black  fellows.     I  rode  on,  utterly  unsus 
picious  of  any  trouble ;  but  as  I  approached 
he  jumped  off  the  fence,  and  at  the  same  mo 
ment  two  of  the  negroes  sprang  up  from  under 
the  bushes  where  they  had  been  concealed, 
and  stood  with  him  immediately  in  front  of 
me,  while  the  third  sprang  over  the  fence  just 
behind   me.      1  was   thus   enclosed   between 
what  I  could  no  longer  doubt  were  hostile 
forces.     The  overseer  seized  my  horse's  bridle, 
and  ordered  me  to  alight,  in  the  usual  elegant 
phraseology  addressed  by  such  men  to  slaves. 
I  asked  what  I  was  to  alight  for.     "  To  take 
the  cursedest  flogging  you  ever  had  in  your 
life,  you  d — d  black  scoundrel."     "  But  what 
am   I  to  be  flogged  for,  Mr.  L.  ? "    I  asked. 
"  Not  a  word,"  said  he,  "  but  'light  at  once,  and 
take  off  your  jacket."     I  saw  there  was  nothing 
else  to  be  done,  and  slipped  off  the  horse  on 
the  opposite  side  from  him.     "  Now  take  off 


36  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

your  shirt,"  cried  he ;  and  as  I  demurred  at 
this,  he  lifted  a  stick  he  had  in  his  hand  to 
strike  me,  but  so  suddenly  and  violently  that 
he  frightened  the  horse,  which  broke  away 
from  him  and  ran  home.  I  was  thus  left  with 
out  means  of  escape,  to  sustain  the  attacks 
of  four  men,  as  well  as  I  might.  In  avoiding 
Mr.  L.'s  blow,  I  had  accidentally  got  into  a 
corner  of  the  fence,  where  I  could  not  be  ap 
proached  except  in  front.  The  overseer  called 
upon  the  negroes  to  seize  me ;  but  they,  know 
ing  something  of  my  physical  p6wer,  were 
rather  slow  to  obey.  At  length  they  did  their 
best,  and  as  they  brought  themselves  within 
my  reach,  I  knocked  them  down  successively ; 
and  one  of  them  trying  to  trip  up  my  feet 
when  he  was  down,  I  gave  him  a  kick  with 
my  heavy  shoe,  which  knocked  out  several 
teeth,  and  sent  him  howling  away. 

Meanwhile  Bryce  Litton  played  away  on 
my  head  with  a  stick,  not  heavy-  enough, 
indeed,  to  knock  me  down,  but  drawing  blood 
freely ;  shouting  all  the  while,  "  Won't  you 
give  up !  won't  you  give  up !  you  black  son 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  37 

of  a  bitch ! "  Exasperated  at  my  defence,  he 
suddenly  seized  a  heavy  fence-rail,  and  rushed 
at  me  to  bring  matters  to  a  sudden  close. 
The  ponderous  blow  fell ;  I  lifted  my  arm  to 
ward  it  off;  the  bone  cracked  like  a  pipe-stem, 
and  I  fell  headlong  to  the  ground.  Repeated 
blows  then  rained  on  my  back,  till  both  shoul 
der-blades  were  broken,  and  the  blood  gushed 
copiously  from  my  mouth.  In  vain  the  ne 
groes  interposed.  "  Didn't  you  see  the  damned 
nigger  strike  me  ?  "  Of  course  they  must  say 
"  yes,"  although  the  lying  coward  had  avoided 
close  quarters,  and  fought  with  his  stick  alone, 
At  length,  his  vengeance  satisfied,  he  desisted, 
telling  me  to  learn  what  it  was  to  strike  a 
white  man. 

Meanwhile  an  alarm  had  been  raised  at  the 
house  by  the  return  of  the  horse  without  his 
rider,  and  my  master  started  off  with  a  small 
party 'to  learn  what  the  trouble  was.  When, 
he  first  saw  me  he  was  swearing  with  rage. 
"  You've  been  fighting,  you  damned  nigger!" 
I  told  him  Bryce  Litton  had  been  beating  me, 
because  I  shoved  him  the  other  night  at  the 
4 


38  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

tavern,  when  they  had  a  fuss.  Seeing  how 
much  I  was  injured,  he  became  still  more  fear 
fully  mad ;  and  after  having  me  carried  home, 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  over  to  Montgom 
ery  Court  House,  to  enter  a  complaint.  Little 
good  came  of  it.  Litton  swore  that  when  he 
spoke  to  me  in  the  lane,  I  "sassed"  him, 
jumped  off  my  horse  and  made  at  him,  arid 
would  have  killed  him  but  for  the  help  of  his 
negroes.  Of  course  no  negro's  testimony 
could  be  admitted  against  a  white  man,  and 
he  was  acquitted.  My  master  was  obliged  to 
pay  all  the  costs  of  court ;  and  although  he 
had  the  satisfaction  of  calling  Litton  a  liar 
and  scoundrel,  and  giving  him  a  tremendous 
bruising,  still  even  this  partial  compensation 
was  rendered  less  gratifying  by  what  followed, 
which  was  a  suit  for  damages  and  a  heavy 
fine. 

My  sufferings  after  this  cruel  treatment  were 
intense.  Besides  my  broken  arm  and  the 
wounds  on  my  head,  I  could  feel  and  hear  the 
pieces  of  my  shoulder-blades  grate  against 
each  other  with  every  breath.  No  physician 


OP   HIS   OWN    LIFE.  39 

or  surgeon  was  called  to  dress  my  wounds ; 
and  I  never  knew  one  to  be  called  on  Kiley's 
estate  on  any  occasion  whatever.  "A  nigger 
will  get  well  anyway,"  was  a  fixed  principle 
of  faith,  and  facts  seemed  to  justify  it.  The 
robust,  physical  health  produced  by  a  life  of 
out-door  labor,  made  our  wounds  heal  up  with 
as  little  inflammation  as  they  do  in  the  case 
of  cattle.  I  was  attended  by  my  master's  sis 
ter,  Miss  Patty,  as  we  called  her,  the  Escu- 
lapius  of  the  plantation.  She  was  a  powerful, 
big-boned  woman,  who  flinched  at  no  respon 
sibility,  from  wrenching  out  teeth  to  setting 
bones.  I  have  seen  her  go  into  the  house  and 
get  a  rifle  to  shoot  a  furious  ox  that  the  negroes 
were  in  vain  trying  to  butcher.  She  splintered 
my  arm  and  bound  up  my  back  as  well  as  she 
knew  how.  Alas !  it  was  but  cobbler's  work. 
From  that  day  to  this  I  have  been  unable  to 
raise  my  hands  as  high  as  my  head.  It  was 
five  months  before  I  could  work  at  all,  and  the 
first  time  I  tried  to  plough,  a  hard  knock  of  the 
colter  against  a  stone  shattered  rny  shoulder- 
blades  again,  and  gave  me  even  greater  agony 


40  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

than  at  first.  And  so  I  have  gone  through 
life  maimed  and  mutilated.  Practice  in  time 
enabled  me  to  perform  many  of  the  farm  labors 
with  considerable  efficiency;  but  the  free,  vig 
orous  play  of  muscle  and  arm  was  gone 
forever. 

My  situation  as  overseer  I  retained,  together 
with  the  especial  favor  of  my  master,  who  was 
not  displeased  either  with  saving  the  expense 
of  a  large  salary  for  a  white  superintendent, 
or  with  the  superior  crops  I  was  able  to  raise 
for  him.  I  will  not  deny  that  I  used  his  prop 
erty  more  freely  than  he  would  have  done 
himself,  in  supplying  his  people  with  better 
food;  but  if  I  cheated  him  in  this  way,  in 
small  matters,  it  was  unequivocally  for  his 
own  benefit  in  more  important  ones  ;  and  I 
accounted,  with  the  strictest  honesty,  for  every 
dollar  I  received  in  the  sale  of  the  property 
entrusted  to  me.  Gradually  the  disposal  of 
everything  raised  on  the  farm,  —  tne  wheat, 
oats,  hay,  fruit,  butter,  and  whatever  else 
there  might  be,  —  was  confided  to  me,  as  it 
was  quite  evident  that  I  could  and  did  sell  for 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  41 

better  prices  than  any  one  else  he  could  em 
ploy  ;  and  he  was  quite  incompetent  to  attend 
to  the  business  himself.  For  many  years  I 
was  his  factotum,  and  supplied  him  with  all 
his  means  for  all  his  purposes,  whether  they 
were  good  or  bad.  I  had  no  reason  to  think 
highly  of  his  moral  character;  but  it  was  my 
duty  to  be  faithful  to  him  in  the  position  in 
which  he  placed*ftie ;  and  I  can  boldly  declare, 
before  God  and  man,  that  I  was  so.  I  forgave 
him  the  causeless  blows  and  injuries  he  had 
inflicted  on  me  in  childhood  and  youth,  and 
was  proud  of  the  favor  he  now  showed  me, 
and  of  the  character  and  reputation  I  had 
earned  by  strenuous  and  persevering  efforts. 
4* 


42  FATHER  HEN^ON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER    VI. 

A    RESPONSIBLE    JOURNEY. 

MY  MARRIAGE.  —  MARRIAGE  OF  MY  MASTER.  —  HIS  RUIN. 
—  COMES  TO  ME  FOR  AID.  —  A  GREAT  ENTERPRISE  UN 
DERTAKEN.  —  LONG  AND  SUCCESSFUL  JOURNEY.  —  INCI 
DENTS  BY  THE  WAY. —  STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  INCLINATION 
AND  DUTY. — DUTY  TRIUMPHANT. 

WHEN  I  was  about  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  I  married  a  very  efficient,  and,  for  a  slave, 
a  very  well-taught  girl,  belonging  to  a  neigh 
boring  family,  reputed  to  be  pious  and  kind, 
whom  1  first  met  at  the  religious  meetings 
which  I  attended.  She  has  borne  me  twelve 
children,  eight  of  whom  still  survive  and 
promise  to  be  the  comfort  of  my  declining 
years. 

Things  remained  in  this  condition  for  a 
considerable  period  ;  my  occupations  being  to 
superintend  the  farming  operations,  and  to 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  43 

sell  the  produce  in  the  neighboring  markets 
of  Washington  and  Georgetown.  Many  re 
spectable  people,  yet  living  there,  may  pos 
sibly  have  some  recollection  of  "  Siah,"  or 
"  Sie,"  (as  they  used  to  call  me,)  as  their 
market-man ;  but  if  they  have  forgotten  me,  I 
remember  them  with  an  honest  satisfaction. 

After  passing  his  youth  in  the  manner  I 
have  mentioned  in  a  general  way,  and  which 
I  do  not  wish  more  particularly  to  describe, 
my  master,  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  or  up 
wards,  married  a  young  woman  of  eighteen, 
who  had  some  little  property,  and  more  thrift. 
Her  economy  was  remarkable,  and  was  cer 
tainly  no  addition  to  the  comfort  of  the  estab 
lishment.  She  had  a  younger  brother,  Francis, 
to  whom  Biley  was  appointed  guardian,  and 
who  used  to  complain  —  not  without  reason, 
I  am  confident  —  of  the  meanness  of  the  pro 
vision  made  for  the  household  ;  and  he  would 
often  come  to  me,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  to 
tell  me  he  could  not  get  enough  to  eat.  I 
made  him  my  friend  for  life,  by  sympathising 
in  his  emotions  and  satisfying  his  appetite, 


44  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

sharing  with  him  the  food  I  took  care  to  pro 
vide  for  my  own  family.  He  is  still  living, 
and,  I  understand,  one  of  the  wealthiest  men 
in  Washington  city. 

After  a  time,  however,  continual  dissipation 
was  more  than  a  match  for  domestic  saving. 
My  master  fell  into  difficulty,  and  from  diffi 
culty  into  a  lawsuit  with  a  brother-in-law,  who 
charged  him  with  dishonesty  in  the  manage 
ment  of  property  confided  to  him  in  trust. 
The  lawsuit  was  protracted  enough  to  cause 
his  ruin  of  itself. 

Harsh  and  tyrannical  as  my  master  had 
been,  I  really  pitied  him  in  his  present  distress. 
At  times  he  was  dreadfully  dejected,  at  others 
crazy  with  drink  and  rage.  Day  after  day 
would  he  ride  over  to  Montgomery  Court 
House  about  his  business,  and  every  day  his 
affairs  grew  more  desperate.  He  would  come 
into  my  cabin  to  tell  me  how  things  were 
going,  but  spent  the  time  chiefly  in  lamenting 
his  misfortunes  and  cursing  his  brother-in-law. 
I  tried  to  comfort  him  as  best  I  could.  He 
had  confidence  in  my  fidelity  and  judgment, 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  45 

and  partly  through  pride,  partly  through  that 
divine  spirit  of  love  I  had  learned  to  worship 
in  Jesus,  I  entered  with  interest  into  all  his 
perplexities.  The  poor,  drinking,  furious, 
moaning  creature  was  utterly  incapable  of 
managing  his  affairs.  Shiftlessness,  licen 
tiousness  and  drink  had  complicated  them  as 
much  as  actual  dishonesty. 

One  night  in  the  month  of  January,  long 
after  I  had  fallen  asleep,  he  came  into  my 
cabin  and  waked  me  up.  I  thought  it  strange, 
but  for  a  time  he  said  nothing  and  sat  mood 
ily  warming  himself  at  the  fire.  Then  he 
began  to  groan  and  wring  his  hands.  "  Sick, 
massa  ?  "  said  I.  He  made  no  reply  but  kept 
on  moaning.  "  Can't  I  help  you  any  way, 
massa  ?  "  I  spoke  tenderly,  for  my  heart  was 
full  of  compassion  at  his  wretched  appear 
ance.  At  last,  collecting  himself,  he  cried, 
"Oh,  Sie!  I'm  ruined,  ruined,  ruined!" 
"  How  so,  massa?  "  "  They've  got  judgment 
against  me,  and  in  less  than  two  weeks  every 
nigger  I've  got  will  be  put  up  and  sold." 
Then  he  burst  into  a  storm  of  curses  at  his 


46  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

brother-in-law.  I  sat  silent,  powerless  to  utter 
a  word.  Pity  for  him  and  terror  at  the  antici 
pation  of  my  own  family's  future  fate  filled 
my  heart.  "  And  now,  Sie,"  he  continued, 
"there's  only  one  way  I  can  save  anything. 
You  can  do  it ;  won't  you,  won't  you  ?  "  In 
his  distress  he  rose  and  actually  threw  his 
arms  around  me.  Misery  had  levelled  all  dis 
tinctions.  "  If  I  can  do  it,  massa,  I  will. 
What  is  it  ?  "  Without  replying  he  went  on, 
"  won't  you,  won't  you?  I  raised  you,  Sie  ;  I 
made  you  overseer ;  I  know  I've  abused  you, 
Sie,  but  I  didn't  mean  it."  Still  he  avoided 
telling  me  what  he  wanted.  "  Promise  me 
you  '11  do  it,  boy."  He  seemed  resolutely  bent 
on  having  my  promise  first,  well  knowing 
from  past  experience  that  what  I  agreed  to  do 
I  spared  no  pains  to  accomplish.  Solicited 
in  this  way,  with  urgency  and  tears,  by  the 
man  whom  I  had  so  zealously  served  for  over 
thirty  years,  and  who  now  seemed  absolutely 
dependent  upon  his  slave,  —  impelled,  too,  by 
the  fear  which  he  skilfully  awakened,  that  the 
sheriff  would  seize  every  one  who  belonged  to 


OF  "HIS   OWN   LIFE.  47 

him,  and  that  all  would  be  separated,  or  per 
haps  sold  to  go  to  Georgia,  or  Louisiana  — 
an  object  of  perpetual  dread  to  the  slave  of 
the  more  northern  States  —  I  consented,  and 
promised  faithfully  to  do  all  I  could  to  save 
him  from  the  fate  impending  over  him. 

At  last  the  proposition  came.  "  I  want  you 
to  run  away,  Sie,  to  your  master  Amos  in 
Kentucky,  and  take  all  the  servants  along  with 
you."  I  could  not  have  been  more  startled 
had  he  asked  me  to  go  to  the  moon.  Master 
Amos  was  his  brother.  "  Kentucky,  massa  ? 
Kentucky  ?  I  don't  know  the  way."  "  O,  it's 
easy  enough  for  a  smart  fellow  like  you  to 
find  it;  I'll  give  you  a  pass  and  tell  you  just 
what  to  do."  Perceiving  that  I  hesitated,  he 
endeavored  to  frighten  me  by  again  referring 
to  the  terrors  of  being  sold  to  Georgia. 

For  two  or  three  hours  he  continued  to  urge 
the  undertaking,  appealing  to  my  pride,  my 
sympathies,  and  my  fears,  and  at  last,  appall 
ing  as  it  seemed,  I  told  him  I  would  do  my 
best.  There  were  eighteen  negroes,  besides 
my  wife,  two  children  and  myself,  to  transport 


48  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

nearly  a  thousand  miles,  through  a  country 
about  which  I  knew  nothing,  and  in  mid-win 
ter  —  for  it  was  the  month  of  February,  1825. 
My  master  proposed  to  follow  me  in  a  few 
months,  and  establish  himself  in  Kentucky. 

My  mind  once  made  up,  I  set  earnestly 
about  the  needful  preparations.  They  were 
few  and  easily  made.  A  one-horse  wagon, 
well  stocked  with  oats,  meal,  bacon,  for  our 
own  and  the  horse's  support,  was  soon  made 
reudy.  My  pride  was  aroused  in  view  of  the 
importance  of  my  responsibility,  and  heart 
and  soul  I  became  identified  with  my  master's 
project  of  running  off  his  negroes.  The  second 
night  after  the  scheme  was  formed  we  were 
under  way.  Fortunately  for  the  success  of 
the  undertaking,  these  people  had  long  been 
under  my  direction,  and  were  devotedly  at 
tached  to  me  in  return  for  the  many  allevia 
tions  I  had  afforded  to  their  miserable  condi 
tion,  the  comforts  I  had  procured  them,  and 
the  consideration  I  had  always  manifested  for 
them.  Under  these  circumstances  no  difficulty 
arose  from  want  of  submission  to  my  author- 


OP  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  49 

ity.  The  dread  of  being  separated,  and  sold 
away  down  south,  should  they  remain  on  the 
old  estate,  united  them  as  one  man,  and  kept 
them  patient  and  alert. 

"We  started  from  home  about  eleven  o'clock 
at  night,  and  till  the  following  noon  made  no 
permanent  halt.  The  men  trudged  on  foot, 
the  children  were  put  into  the  wagon,  and 
now  and  then  my  wife  rode  for  a  while.  On 
we  went  through  Alexandria,  Culpepper,  Fau- 
quier,  Harper's  Ferry,  Cumberland,  over  the 
mountains  on  the  National  Turnpike,  to 
Wheeling.  In  all  the  taverns  along  the  road 
were  regular  places  for  the  droves  of  negroes 
continually  passing  along  under  the  system 
of  the  internal  slave  trade.  In  these  we 
lodged,  and  our  lodging  constituted  our  only 
expense,  for  our  food  we  carried  with  us.  To 
all  who  asked  questions  I  showed  my  mas 
ter's  pass,  authorizing  me  to  conduct  his  ne 
groes  t®  Kentucky,  and  often  was  the  enco 
mium  of  "  smart  nigger "  bestowed  on  me, 
to  my  immense  gratification. 

At  the  places  where  we  stopped  for  the 
5 


50  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

night,  we  often  met  negro-drivers  with  their 
droves,  who  were  almost  uniformly  -kept 
chained  to  prevent  them  from  running  away. 
The  inquiry  was  often  propounded  to  me  by 
the  drivers,  "  Whose  niggers  are  those  ?  "  On 
being  informed,  the  next  inquiry  usually  was, 
"  Where  are  they  going  ?  "  "  To  Kentucky." 
"  Who  drives  them  ?  "  "  Well,  I  have  charge 
of  them,"  was  my  reply.  "  What  a  smart 
nigger !  "  was  the  usual  exclamation,  with  an 
oath.  "  Will  your  master  sell  you  ?  Come 
in  and  stop  with  us."  In  this  way  I  was 
often  invited  to  pass  the  evening  with  them 
in  the  bar-room  ;  their  negroes,  in  the  mean 
time,  lying  chained  in  the  pen,  while  mine 
were  scattered  around  at  liberty. 

Arriving  at  Wheeling,  in  pursuance  of  the 
plan  laid  down  by  my  master,  I  sold  the  horse 
and  wagon,  and  purchased  a  large  boat,  called 
in  that  region  a  yawl.  Our  mode  of  locomo 
tion  was  now  decidedly  more  agreeable  than 
tramping  along  day  after  day,  at  the  rate  we 
had  kept  up  ever  since  leaving  home.  Very 
little  labor  at  the  oars  was  necessary.  The 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  51 

tide  floated  us  steadily  along,  and  we  had 
ample  leisure  to  sleep  and  recruit  our  strength. 
A  new  and  unexpected  trouble  now  assailed 
me.  On  passing  along  the  Ohio  shore,  we 
were  repeatedly  told  by  persons  conversing 
with  us,  that  we  were  no  longer  slaves,  but 
free  men,  if  we  chose  to  be  so.  At  Cincin 
nati,  especially,  crowds  of  colored  people 
gathered  round  us,  and  insisted  on  our  re 
maining  with  them.  They  told  us  we  were 
fools  to  think  of  going  on  and  surrendering 
ourselves  up  to  a  new  owner ;  that  now  we 
could  be  our  own  masters,  arid  put  ourselves 
out  of  ah1  reach  of  pursuit.  I  saw  the  people 
under  me  were  getting  much  excited.  Di 
vided  counsels  and  signs  of  insubordination 
began  to  manifest  themselves.  I  began,  too, 
to  feel  my  own  resolution  giving  way.  Free 
dom  had  ever  been  an  object  of  my  ambition, 
though  no  other  means  of  obtaining  it  had 
occurred  to  me  but  purchasing  myself.  I  had 
never  dreamed  of  running  away.  I  had  a  sen 
timent  of  honor  on  the  subject.  The  duties 
of  the  slave  to  his  master  as  appointed  over 


52  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

him  in  the  Lord,  I  had  ever  heard  urged  by 
ministers  and  religious  men.  It  seemed  like 
outright  stealing.  And  now  I  felt  the  devil 
was  getting  the  upper  hand  of  me.  Strange 
as  all  this  may  seem,  I  really  felt  it  then.  En 
trancing  as  the  idea  was,  that  the  coast  was 
clear  for  a  run  for  freedom,  that  I  might  liber 
ate  my  companions,  might  carry  off  my  wife 
and  children,  and  some  day  own  a  house  and 
land,  and  be  no  longer  despised  and  abused 
—  still  my  notions  of  right  were  against  it.  I 
had  promised  my  master  to  take  his  property 
to  Kentucky,  and  deposit  it  with  his  brother 
Amos.  Pride,  too,  came  in  to  confirm  me.  I 
had  undertaken  a  great  thing;  my  vanity  had 
been  flattered  all  along  the  road  by  hearing 
myself  praised ;  I  thought  it  would  be  a 
feather  in  my  cap  to  carry  it  through  thor 
oughly  ;  and  had  often  painted  the  scene  in 
my  imagination  of  the  final  surrender  of  my 
charge  to  master  Amos,  and  the  immense 
admiration  and  respect  with  wThich  he  would 
regard  me. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  impressions, 


OF    HIS   OWN    LIFE.  53 

and  seeing  that  the  allurements  of  the  crowd 
were  producing  a  manifest  effect,  I  sternly 
assumed  the  captain,  and  ordered  the  boat  to 
be  pushed  off  into  the  stream.  A  shower  of 
curses  followed  me  from  the  shore  ;  but  the 
negroes  under  me,  accustomed  to  obey,  and, 
alas!  too  degraded  and  ignorant  of  the  ad 
vantages  of  liberty  to  know  what  they  were 
forfeiting,  offered  no  resistance  to  my  com 
mand. 

Often  since  that  day  has  my  soul  been 
pierced  with  bitter  anguish  at  the  thought  of 
having  been  thus  instrumental  in  consigning 
to  the  infernal  bondage  of  slavery  so  many 
of  my  fellow-beings.  I  have  wrestled  in 
prayer  with  God  for  forgiveness.  Having 
experienced  myself  the  sweetness  of  liberty, 
and  knowing  too  well  the  after  misery  of 
numbers  of  many  of  them,  my  infatuation 
has  seemed  to  me  the  unpardonable  sin.  But 
I  console  myself  with  the  thought  that  I  acted 
according  to  my  best  light,  though  the  light 
that  was  in  me  was  darkness.  Those  were 
my  days  of  ignorance.  I  knew  not  the  glory 
5* 


54  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

of  free  manhood.  I  knew  not  that  the  title- 
deed  of  the  slave-owner  is  robbery  and  out 
rage. 

What  advantages  I  may  have  personally 
lost  by  thus  throwing  away  an  opportunity  of 
obtaining  freedom,  I  know  not ;  but  the  per 
ception  of  my  own  strength  of  character,  the 
feeling  of  integrity,  the  sentiment  of  high 
honor,  I  thus  gained  by  obedience  to  what  I 
believed  right,  these  advantages  I  do  know 
and  prize.  He  that  is  faithful  over  a  little, 
will  alone  be  faithful  over  much.  Before 
God,  I  tried  to  do  my  best,  and  the  error  of 
judgment  lies  at  the  door  of  the  degrading 
system  under  which  I  had  been  nurtured. 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  55 


CHAPTER    VII. 

A    NEW    HOME. 

BECOME  A  METHODIST  PREACHER. — MY  POOR  COMPAN 
IONS  SOLD. MY  AGONY. — SENT  FOR  AGAIN.  —  INTER 
VIEW  WITH  A  KIND  METHODIST  PREACHER. — VISIT 
FREE  SOIL  AND  BEGIN  MY  STRUGGLE  FOR  FREEDOM. 

I  ARRIVED  at  Davis  county,  Kentucky,  about 
the  middle  of  April,  1825,  and  delivered  my 
self  and  my  companions  to  Mr.  Amos  Riley, 
the  brother  of  my  owner,  who  had  a  large 
plantation,  with  from  eighty  to  one  hundred 
negroes.  His  house  was  situated  about  five 
miles  south  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  fifteen 
miles  above  the  Yellow  Banks,  on  Big  Black- 
fords  Creek.  There  I  remained  three  years, 
expecting  my  master  to  follow,  and  was  em 
ployed  meantime  on  the  farm,  of  which  I  had 
the  general  management,  in  consequence  of 
the  recommendation  for  ability  and  honesty 


56  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

which  I  brought  with  me  from  Maryland. 
The  situation  was,  in  many  respects,  more 
comfortable  than  that  I  had  left.  The  farm . 
was  larger  and  more  fertile,  and  there  was  a 
greater  abundance  of  food,  which  is,  of 
course,  one  of  the  principal  sources  of  the 
comfort  of  a  slave,  debarred  as  he  is  from  so 
many  enjoyments  which  other  men  can  ob 
tain.  Sufficiency  of  food  is  a  pretty  import 
ant  item  in  any  man's  account  of  life  ;  but  is 
tenfold  more  so  in  that  of  the  slave,  whose 
appetite  is  always  stimulated  by  as  much 
labor  as  he  can  perform,  and  whose  mind  is 
little  occupied  by  thought  on  subjects  of 
deeper  interest.  My  post  of  superintendent 
gave  me  some  advantages,  too,  of  which  I  did 
not  fail  to  avail  myself ;  particularly  with  re 
gard  to  those  religious  privileges,  which,  since 
I  first  heard  of  Christ  and  Christianity,  had 
greatly  occupied  my  mind.  In  Kentucky  the 
opportunities  of  attending  on  the  preaching 
of  whites,  as  well  as  of  blacks,  were  more 
numerous ;  and  partly  by  attending  them,  and 
the  camp-meetings  which  occurred  from  time 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  57 

to  time,  and  partly  from  studying  carefully  my 
own  heart,  and  observing  the  developments 
of  character  around  me,  in  all  the  stations  of 
life  which  I  could  watch,  I  became  better 
acquainted  with  those  religious  feelings  which 
are  deeply  implanted  in  the  breast  of  every 
human  being,  and  learned  by  practice  how 
best  to  arouse  them,  and  keep  them  excited, 
how  to  stir  up  the  callous  and  indifferent,  and, 
in  general,  to  produce  some  good  religious  im 
pressions  on  the  ignorant  and  thoughtless  com 
munity  by  which  I  was  surrounded. 

No  great  amount  of  theological  knowledge 
is  requisite  for  the  purpose.  If  it  had  been,  it 
is  manifest  enough  that  preaching  never  could 
have  been  my  vocation  ;  but  I  am  persuaded 
that,  speaking  from  the  fulness  of  a  heart 
deeply  impressed  with  its  own  sinfulness  and 
imperfection,  and  with  the  mercy  of  God,  in 
Christ  Jesus,  my  humble  ministrations  have 
not  been  entirely  useless  to  those  who  have 
had  less  opportunity  than  myself  to  reflect 
upon  these  all  important  subjects.  It  is  cer 
tain  that  I  could  not  refrain  from  the  endeav- 


58  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

or  to  do  what  I  saw  others  doing  in  this  field; 
and  I  labored  at  once  to  improve  myself  and 
those  about  me  in  the  cultivation  of  the  har 
vests  which  ripen  only  in  eternity.  I  cannot 
but  derive  some  satisfaction,  too,  from  the 
proofs  I  have  had  that  my  services  have  been 
acceptable  to  those  to  whom  they  have  been 
rendered.  In  the  course  of  three  years,  from 
1825  to  1828,  I  availed  myself  of  all  the  op 
portunities  of  improvement  which  occurred, 
and  was  admitted  as  a  preacher  by  a  Quar 
terly  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1828,  news  ar 
rived  from  my  master  that  he  was  unable  to 
induce  his  wife  to  accompany  him  to  Ken 
tucky,  and  that  he  must  therefore  remain 
where  he  was.  He  sent  out  an  agent  to  sell 
all  his  slaves,  except  me  and  my  family,  and 
to  carry  back  the  proceeds  to  him.  And  now 
another  of  those  heart-rending  scenes  was  to 
be  witnessed,  which  had  impressed  itself  so 
deeply  on  my  childish  soul.  Husbands  and 
wives,  parents  and  children,  were  to  be  sepa- 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  59 

rated  forever.  Affections,  which  are  as  strong 
in  the  African  as  in  the  European,  were  to  be 
cruelly  disregarded;  and  the  iron  selfishness 
generated  by  the  hateful  "  institution,"  was  to 
be  exhibited  in  its  most  odious  and  naked 
deformity.  I  was  exempted  from  a  personal 
share  in  the  dreadful  calamity;  but  I  could 
not  see,  without  the  deepest  grief,  the  agony 
which  I  recollected  in  my  own  mother,  and 
which  was  again  brought  before  my  eyes  in 
the  persons  with  whom  I  had  been  long  asso 
ciated  ;  nor  could  I  refrain  from  the  bitterest 
feeling  of  hatred  of  the  system,  and  those  who 
sustain  it.  What  else,  indeed,  can  be  the 
feeling  of  the  slave,  liable  at  every  moment  of 
his  life  to  these  frightful  and  unnecessary  ca 
lamities,  which  may  be  caused  by  the  caprice 
of  the  abandoned,  or  the  supposed  necessities 
of  the  better  part  of  the  slaveholders,  and  in 
flicted  upon  him  without  sympathy  or  redress, 
under  the  sanction  of  the  laws  which  uphold 
the  institution  ? 

As  I  surveyed  this  scene,  and  listened  to  the 
groans  and  outcries  of  my  afflicted  compan- 


GO  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

ions,  the  torments  of  hell  seized  upon  me. 
My  eyes  were  opened,  and  the  guilty  madness 
of  my  conduct  in  preventing  them  from  avail 
ing  themselves  of  the  opportunity  for  acquir 
ing  freedom,  which  offered  itself  at  Cincinnati, 
overwhelmed  me.  This,  then,  was  the  reward 
and  end  of  all  my  faithfulness  to  my  master. 
I  had  thought  of  him  only  and  his  interests, 
not  of  them  or  their  welfare.  Oh !  what  would 
I  not  have  given  to  have  had  the  chance 
offered  once  more!  And  now,  through  me, 
were  they  doomed  to  wear  out  life  miserably 
in  the  hot  and  pestilential  climate  of  the  far 
south.  Death  would  have  been  welcome  to 
me  in  my  agony.  From  that  hour  I  saw 
through,  hated,  and  cursed  the  whole  system 
of  slavery.  One  absorbing  purpose  occupied 
my  soul  —  freedom,  self-assertion,  deliverance 
from  the  cruel  caprices  and  fortunes  of  disso 
lute  tyrants.  Once  to  get  away,  with  my  wife 
and  children,  to  some  spot  where  I  could  feel 
that  they  were  indeed  mine  —  where  no  grasp 
ing  master  could  stand  between  me  and  them, 
as  arbiter  of  their  destiny — was  a  heaven 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  61 

yearned  after  with  insatiable  longing.  For  it 
I  stood  ready  to  pray,  toil,  dissemble,  plot  like 
a  fox,  and  fight  like  a  tiger.  All  the  noble 
instincts  of  my  soul,  and  all  the  ferocious  pas 
sions  of  my  animal  nature,  were  aroused  and 
quickened  into  vigorous  action. 

The  object  of  my  old  master  Riley  in  direct 
ing  that  I  and  my  family  should  be  exempted 
from  the  sale,  was  a  desire  on  his  part  to  get 
me  back  to  Maryland,  and  employ  me  in  his 
own  service.  His  best  farms  had  been  taken 
away  from  him,  and  but  a  few  tracts  of  poor 
land  remained.  After  his  slaves  had  been  run 
off,  he  cultivated  these  with  hired  labor,  and 
month  by  month  grew  poorer  and  more  des 
perate.  He  had  written  to  his  brother  Amos 
to  give  me  a  pass  and  let  me  travel  back ;  but 
this  his  brother  was  reluctant  to  do,  as  I  saved 
him  the  expense  of  an  overseer,  and  he  more 
over  knew  that  no  legal  steps  could  be  taken 
to  force  him  to  comply.  I  knew  of  all  this, 
but  dared  not  seem  anxious  to  return,  for  fear 
of  exciting  suspicion. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  of  1828,  a 
6 


62  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

Methodist  preacher,  a  most  excellent  white 
man,  visited  our  neighborhood,  and  I  became 
acquainted  with  him.  He  was  soon  interested 
in  me,  and  visited  me  frequently,  and  one  day 
talked  to  me  in  a  confidential  manner  about 
my  position.  He  said  I  ought  to  be  free ; 
that  I  had  too  much  capacity  to  be  confined 
to  the  limited  and  comparatively  useless  sphere 
of  a  slave ;  "  and  though,"  said  he,  "  I  must 
not  be  known  to  have  spoken  to  you  on  this 
subject,  yet  if  you  will  obtain  Mr.  Amos's  con 
sent  to  go  to  see  your  old  master  in  Maryland, 
I  will  try  and  put  you  in  a  way  by  which  I 
think  you  may  succeed  in  buying  yourself." 
He  said  this  to  me  more  than  once ;  and  as  it 
was  in  harmony  with  all  rny  aspirations  and 
wishes,  was  flattering  to  my  self-esteem,  and 
gratified  my  impatience  to  bring  matters  to  a 
direct  issue,  I  now  resolved  to  make  the  at 
tempt  to  get  the  necessary  leave.  The  autumn 
work  was  over,  I  was  no  longer  needed  in  the 
fields,  and  a  better  chance  would  never  offer 
itself.  Still  I  dreaded  to  make  the  proposal. 
So  much  hung  on  it,  such  fond  hopes  were 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  63 

bound  up  with  it,  that  I  trembled  for  the 
result. 

I  opened  the  subject  one  Sunday  morning 
while  shaving  Mr.  *Amos,  and  adroitly  man 
aged,  by  bringing  the  shaving  brush  close  into 
his  mouth  whenever  he  was  disposed  to  inter 
rupt  me,  to  "  get  a  good  say"  first.  Of  course 
I  made  no  allusion  to  my  plan  of  buying  my 
self;  but  urged  my  request  on  the  sole  ground 
of  a  desire  to  see  my  old  master.  To  my 
surprise  he  made  little  objection.  I  had  been 
faithful  to  him,  and  gained,  in  his  rude  way 
of  showing  it,  his  regard.  Long  before  spring 
I  would-be  back  again.  He  even  told  me  I 
had  earned  such  a  privilege. 

The  certificate  he  gave  me  allowed  me  to 
pass  and  repass  between  Kentucky  and  Mary 
land  as  servant  of  Amos  Eiley.  Furnished 
with  this,  and  with  a  letter  of  recommenda 
tion  from  my  Methodist  friend  to  a  brother 
preacher  in  Cincinnati,  I  started  about  the 
middle  of  September,  1828,  for  the  east. 

A  new  era  in  my  history  now  opened  upon 
me.  A  letter  I  carried  with  me  to  a  kind- 


64  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

hearted  man  in  Cincinnati  procured  me  a 
number  of  invaluable  friends,  who  entered 
heart  and  soul  into  my  plans.  They  procured 
me  an  opportunity  to  preach  in  two  or  three 
of  the  pulpits  of  the  city,  and  I  made  my  ap 
peal  with  that  eloquence  which  spontaneously 
breaks  forth  from  a  breast  all  alive  and  fanned 
into  a  glow  by  an  inspiring  project.  Contact 
with  those  who  were  free  themselves,  and  a 
proud  sense  of  exultation  in  taking  my  des 
tiny  into  my  own  hands,  gave  me  the  sacred 
"  gift  of  tongues."  I  was  pleading  an  issue 
of  life  and  death,  of  heaven  and  hell,  and 
such  as  heard  me  felt  this  in  their  hearts.  In 
three  or  four  days  I  left  the  city  with  no  less 
a  sum  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  in 
my  pockets,  and  with  a  soul  jubilant  with 
thanksgiving,  and  high  in  hope,  directed  my 
steps  towards  Chillicothe,  to  attend  the  ses 
sion  of  the  Ohio  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  My  kind  friend  accom 
panied  me,  and  by  his  influence  and  exertions 
still  further  success  attended  me. 

By  his  advice  I  then  purchased  a  decent 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  65 

suit  of  clothes  and  an  excellent  horse,  and 
travelled  from  town  to  town  preaching  as  I 
went.  Everywhere  I  met  with  kindness.  The 
contrast  between  the  respect  with  which  I  was 
treated  and  the  ordinary  abuse,  or  at  best  in 
solent  familiarity,  of  plantation  life,  gratified 
me  in  the  extreme,  as  it  must  any  one  who 
has  within  him  one  spark  of  personal  dignity 
as  a  man.  The  sweet  enjoyment  of  sympa 
thy,  moreover,  and  the  hearty  "  God  speed 
you,  brother !  "  which  accompanied  every  dol 
lar  I  received,  were  to  my  long  starved  heart  a 
celestial  repast,  and  angels'  food.  Liberty 
was  a  glorious  hope  in  my  mind ;  not  as  an 
escape  from  toil,  for  I  rejoiced  in  toil  when  my 
heart  was  in  it,  but  as  the  avenue  to  a  sense 
of  self-respect,  to  ennobling  occupation,  and 
to  association  with  superior  minds.  Still,  dear 
as  was  the  thought  of  liberty,  I  still  clung  to 
my  determination  to  gain  it  in  one  way  only 
-  by  purchase.  The  cup  of  my  affliction  was 
not  yet  full  enough  to  lead  me  to  disregard  all 
terms  with  my  master. 
6* 


66  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

KETUEN   TO    MAKYLAND. 

RECEPTION  FROM  MY  OLD  MASTER. —  A  SLAVE  AGAIN. — 
APPEAL  TO  AN  OLD  FRIEND. — BUY  MY  FREEDOM. — 
CHEATED  AND  BETRAYED.  —  BACK  TO  KENTUCKY,  AND 
A  SLAVE  AGAIN. 

BEFORE  I  left  Ohio  and  set  my  face  to 
wards  Montgomery  County,  I  was  master  of 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars,  besides 
my  horse  and  clothes.  Proud  of  my  success, 
I  enjoyed  the  thought  of  showing  myself  once 
more  in  the  place  where  I  had  been  known 
simply  as  "  Riley's  head  nigger  ;  "  and  it  was 
with  no  little  satisfaction  that  about  Christ 
mas  I  rode  up  to  the  old  house. 

My  master  gave  me  a  boisterous  reception, 
and  expressed  great  delight  at  seeing  me. 
"  Why,  what  in  the  devil  have  you  been  do- 


OF   HIS    OWN   LIFE.  67 

ing,  Sie  ?  you've  turned  into  a  regular  black 
gentleman."  My  horse  and  dress  sorely  puz 
zled  him,  and  I  soon  saw  it  began  to  irritate 
him.  The  clothes  I  wore  were  certainly  bet 
ter  than  his.  And  already  the  workings  of 
that  tyrannical  hate  with  which  the  coarse 
and  brutal,  who  have  no  inherent  superiority, 
ever  regard  the  least  sign  of  equality  in  their 
dependents,  were  visible  in  his  manner.  His 
face  seemed  to  say,  "  I'll  take  the  gentleman 
out  of  you  pretty  soon."  I  gave  him  such  an 
account  of  my  preaching  as,  while  it  was  con 
sistent  with  the  truth,  and  explained  my  ap 
pearance,  did  not  betray  to  him  my  principal 
purpose.  He  soon  asked  to  see  my  pass,  and 
when  he  found  it  authorized  me  to  return  to 
Kentucky,  handed  it  to  his  wife,  and  desired 
her  to  put  it  into  his  desk.  The  manoeuvre 
was  cool  and  startling.  I  heard  the  old  prison 
gate  clang,  and  the  bolt  shoot  into  the  socket 
once  more.  But  I  said  nothing,  and  resolved 

to  manoeuvre  also. 

IP 

After  putting  my  horse  in  the  stable  I  re 
tired  to  the  kitchen,  where  my  master  told  me 


68  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

I  was  to  sleep  for  the  night.  O,  how  difleren 
from  my  accommodations  in  the  free  States, 
for  the  last  three  months,  was  the  crowded 
room,  with  its  dirt  floor,  and  filth,  and  stench ! 
I  looked  around  me  with  a  sensation  of  dis 
gust.  The  negroes  present  were  strangers  to 
me,  being  slaves  that  Mrs.  Riley  had  brought 
to  her  husband.  "  Fool  that  I  was  to  come 
back ! "  I  found  my  mother  had  died  during 
my  absence,  and  every  tie  which  had  ever  con 
nected  me  with  the  place  was  broken.  The 
idea  of  lying  down  with  my  nice  clothes  in 
this  nasty  sty  was  insufferable.  Full  of 
gloomy  reflections  at  my  loneliness,  and  the 
poverty-stricken  aspect  of  the  whole  farm,  I 
sat  down ;  and  while  my  companions  were 
snoring  in  unconsciousness,  I  kept  awake, 
thinking  how  I  should  escape  from  the  ac 
cursed  spot.  I  knew  of  but  one  friend  to 
whom  I  could  appeal  —  "  Master  Frank,"  the 
brother  of  Riley's  wife,  before  mentioned,  who 
was  now  of  age,  and  had  established  himself 
in  business  in  Washington.  I  knew  ne  would 
take  an  interest  in  me,  for  I  had  done  much  to 


OP  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  69 

lighten  his  sorrows  when  he  was  an  abused 
and  harshly-treated  boy  in  the  house.  To  him 
I  resolved  to  go,  and  as  soon  as  I  thought  it 
time  to  start,  I  saddled  my  horse  and  rode  up 
to  the  house.  It  was  early  in  the  morning, 
and  my  master  had  already  gone  to  the  tavern 
on  his  usual  business,  when  Mrs.  Biley  came 
out  to  look  at  my  horse  and  equipments. 
"  Where  are  you  going,  'Siah?  "  was  the  nat 
ural  question.  I  replied,  "  I  am  going  to 
Washington,  mistress,  to  see  Mr.  Frank,  and 
.  I  must  take  my  pass  with  me,  if  you  please." 
"  O,  everybody  knows  you  here ;  you  won't 
need  your  pass."  "  But  I  can't  go  to  Wash 
ington  without  it.  I  may  be  met  by  some 
surly  stranger,  who  will  stop  me  and  plague 
me,  if  he  can't  do  anything  worse."  "  Well, 
I'll  get  it  for  you,"  she  answered;  and  glad 
was  I  to  see  her  return  with  it  in  her  hand, 
and  to  have  her  give  it  to  me,  while  she  little 
imagined  its  importance  to  my  plan. 

My  reception  by  Master  Frank  was  all  I 
expected,  as  kind  and  hearty  as  possible.  He 
was  delighted  at  my  appearance,  and  I  imme- 


70  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

diately  told  him  all  my  plans  and  hopes.  He 
entered  cordially  into  them,  and  expressed,  as 
he  felt,  I  doubt  not,  a  strong  sympathy  for  me. 
I  found  that  he  thoroughly  detested  Riley, 
whom  he  charged  with  having  defrauded  him 
of  a  large  proportion  of  his  property  which  he 
had  held  as  guardian,  though,  as  he  was  not  at 
warfare  with  him,  he  readily  agreed  to  nego 
tiate  for  my  freedom,  and  bring  him  to  the 
most  favorable  terms.  Accordingly,  in  a  few 
days  he  rode  over  to  the  house,  and  had  a  long 
conversation  with  him  on  the  subject  of  my 
emancipation.  He  disclosed  to  him  the  facts 
that  I  had  got  some  money,  and  my  pass,  and 
urged  that  I  was  a  smart  fellow,  who  was 
bent  upon  getting  his  freedom,  and  had  served 
the  family  faithfully  for  many  years ;  that  I 
had  really  paid  for  myself  a  hundred  times 
over,  in  the  increased  amount  of  produce  I 
had  raised  by  my  skill  and  influence ;  and 
that  if  he  did  not  take  care,  and  accept  a  fair 
offer  when  I  made  it  to  him,  he  would  find 
some  day  that  I  had  the  means  to  do  without 
his  help,  and  that  he  would  see  neither  me  nor 


%  OP  HIS   OWN   LIFE.  71 

my  money ;  that  with  my  horse  and  my  pass 
I  was  pretty  independent  of  him  already,  and 
he  had  better  make  up  his  mind  to  do  what 
was  really  inevitable,  and  do  it  with  a  good 
grace.  By  such  arguments  as  these,  Mr. 
Frank  not  only  induced  him  to  think  of  the 
thing,  but  before  long  brought  him  to  an 
actual  bargain,  by  which  he  agreed  to  give  me 
my  manumission  papers  for  four  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  of  which  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  were  to  be  in  cash,  and  the  remainder 
in  my  note.  My  money  and  my  horse  enabled 
me  to  pay  the  cash  at  once,  and  thus  my 
great  hope  seemed  in  a  fair  way  of  being 
realized. 

Some  time  was  spent  in  the  negotiation  of 
this  affair,  and  it  was  not  until  the  ninth  of 
March,  1829,  that  I  received  my  manumission 
papers  in  due  form  of  law.  1  prepared  to 
start  at  once  on  my  return  to  Kentucky ;  and 
on  the  tenth,  as  I  was  getting  ready,  in  the 
morning,  for  my  journey,  my  master  accosted 
me  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  and  entered 
into  conversation  with  me  about  my  plans. 


72  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

He  asked  me  what  I  was  going  to  do  with 
my  certificate  of  freedom ;  whether  I  was  go 
ing  to  show  it  if  questioned  on  the  road.  I 
told  him,  "  Yes."  "  You'll  be  a  fool  if  you 
do,"  he  rejoined.  "  Some  slave-trader  will  get 
hold  of  it  and  tear  it  up,  and  the  first  thing 
you  know,  you'll  be  thrown  into  prison,  sold 
for  your  jail  fees,  and  be  in  his  possession  be 
fore  any  of  your  friends  can  help  you.  Don't 
show  it  at  all.  Your  pass  is  enough.  Let 
me  enclose  your  papers  for  you  under  cover  to 
my  brother.  Nobody  will  dare  to  break  a 
seal,  for  that  is  a  state-prison  matter;  and 
when  you  arrive  in  Kentucky  you  will  have  it 
with  you  all  safe  and  sound." 

For  this  friendly  advice,  as  I  thought  it,  I 
felt  extremely  grateful.  Secure  in  my  happi 
ness,  I  cherished  no  suspicion  of  others.  I 
accordingly  permitted  him  to  enclose  my  pre 
cious  papers  in  an  envelope  composed  of  sev 
eral  wrappers,  and  after  he  had  sealed  it  with 
three  seals,  and  directed  it  to  his  brother  in 
Davies  county,  Kentucky,  in  my  care,  I  care 
fully  stowed  it  in  my  carpet  bag.  Leaving 


OF    HIS   OWN   LIFE.  73 

immediately  for  Wheeling,  to  which  place 
I  was  obliged  to  travel  on  foot,  I  there  took 
boat,  and  in  due  time  reached  my  destination. 
I  was  arrested  repeatedly  on  the  way  ;  but  by 
insisting  always  on  being  carried  before  a 
magistrate,  I  succeeded  in  escaping  all  serious 
impediments  by  means  of  my  pass,  which  was 
quite  regular,  and  could  not  be  set  aside  by 
any  responsible  authority. 

The  boat  which  took  me  down  from  Louis 
ville,  landed  me  about  dark,  and  my  walk  of 
five  miles  brought  me  to  the  plantation  at 
bed-time.  I  went  directly  to  my  own  cabin, 
and  found  my  wife  and  little  ones  well.  Of 
course  we  had  enough  to  communicate  to 
each  other.  I  soon  found  that  I  had  some 
thing  to  learn  as  well  as  to  tell.  Letters  had 
reached  the  "  great  house,"  —  as  the  master's 
was  always  called,  —  long  before  I  arrived, 
telling  them  what  I  had  been  doing.  The 
children  of  the  family  had  eagerly  communi 
cated  the  good  news  to  my  wife — how  I  had 
been  preaching,  and  raising  money,  and  mak 
ing  a  bargain  for  my  freedom.  It  was  not 
7 


74  FATHER   HENSON'S   STORY 

long  before  Charlotte  began  to  question  me, 
with  much  excitement,  about  how  I  raised  the 
money.     She  evidently  thought  I  had  stolen 
it.     Her  opinion  of  my  powers  as  a  preacher 
was  not  exalted  enough  to  permit  her  to  be 
lieve  I  had  gained  it  as   I  really  did.     It  was 
the  old  story  of  the  prophet  without  honor  in 
his  own  place.     I  contrived  however  to  quiet 
her  fears  on  this  score.      "  But  how  are  you 
going  to  raise  enough  to  pay  the  remainder  of 
the   thousand   dollars?"      "What    thousand 
dollars  ?  "      «  The  thousand  dollars  you  were 
to   give  for  your  freedom."       O,    how   those 
words    smote    me!       At   once    I    suspected 
treachery.     Again  and  again  I  questioned  her 
as  to  what  she  had  heard.     She  persisted  in 
repeating  the  same  story  as  the  substance  of 
my  master's  letters.     Master  Amos  said  I  had 
paid  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  down,  and 
when  I  had  made  up  six  hundred  and  fifty 
more  I  was  to  have  my  free  papers.     I  now 
began  to    perceive   the   trick   that   had   been 
played  upon  me,  and  to  see  the  management 
by  which  Riley  had  contrived  that  the  only 


OP   HJS    OWN  LIFE.  75 

evidence  of  my  freedom  should  be  kept  from 
every  eye  but  that  of  his  brother  Amos,  who 
was  requested  to  retain  it  until  I  had  made 
up  the  balance  I  was  reported  to  have  agreed 
to  pay.  Indignation  is  a  faint  word  to  express 
my  deep  sense  of  such  villainy.  I  was  alter 
nately  beside  myself  with  rage,  and  paralyzed 
with  despair.  My  dream  of  bliss  was  over. 
What  could  I  do  to  set  myself  right  ?  The 
only  witness  to  the  truth,  Master  Frank,  was 
a  thousand  miles  away.  I  could  neither  write 
to  him,  or  get  any  one  else  to  write.  Every 
man  about  me  who  could  write  was  a  slave 
holder.  I  dared  not  go  before  a  magistrate 
with  my  papers,  for  fear  I  should  be  seized 
and  sold  down  the  river  before  anything  could 
be  done.  I  felt  that  every  man's  hand  would 
be  against  me.  "  My  God !  my  God !  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  was  my  bitter  cry. 
One  thing  only  seemed  clear.  My  papers 
must  never  be  surrendered  to  Master  Amos. 
I  told  my  wife  I  had  not  seen  them  since  I 
left  Louisville.  They  might  be  in  my  bag,  or 
they  might  be  lost.  At  all  events  I  did  not 


76  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

wish  to  look  myself.  If  she  found  them  there, 
and  hid  them  away,  out  of  my  knowledge,  it 
would  be  the  best  disposition  to  make  of 
them. 

The  next  morning,  at  the  blowing  of  the 
horn,  I  went  out  to  find  Master  Amos.  I 
found  him  sitting  on  a  stile,  and  as  I  drew 
near  enough  for  him  to  recognize  me,  he 
shouted  out  a  hearty  welcome  in  his  usual 
chaste  style.  "  Why,  halloa,  Sie !  is  that 
you  ?  Got  back,  eh  !  Why,  you  old  son  of 
a  bitch,  I'm  glad  to  see  you !  Drot  your 
blood,  drot  your  blood,  why,  you're  a  regular 
black  gentleman  !  "  And  he  surveyed  my 
dress  with  an  appreciative  grin.  "  Well,  boy, 
how's  your  master  ?  Isaac  says  you  want  to 
be  free.  Want  to  be  free,  eh !  I  think  your 
master  treats  you  pretty  hard,  though.  Six 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  don't  come  so  easy 
in  old  Kentuck.  How  does  he  ever  expect 
you  to  raise  all  that.  It's  too  much,  boy,  it's 
too  much."  In  the  conversation  that  followed 
I  found  my  wife  was  right.  Riley  had  no  idea 
of  letting  me  off,  and  supposed  I  could  con- 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  77 

trive  to  raise  six  hundred  and  fifty  as  easily  as 
one  hundred  dollars. 

Master  Amos  soon  asked  me  if  I  had  not  a 
paper  for  him.  I  told  him  I  had  had  one,  but 
the  last  I  saw  of  it  was  at  Louisville,  and 
now  it  was  not  in  my  bag,  and  I  did  not  know 
what  had  become  of  it.  He  sent  me  back  to 
the  landing  to  see  if  it  had  been  dropped  on 
the  way.  Of  course  I  did  not  find  it.  He 
made,  however,  little  stir  about  it,  for  he  had 
intentions  of  his  own  to  keep  me  working  for 
him,  and  regarded  the  whole  as  a  trick  of  his 
brother's  to  get  money  out  of  me.  All  he  said 
about  the  loss  was,  "  Well,  boy,  bad  luck  hap 
pens  to  everybody,  sometimes." 

All  this  was  very  smooth  and  pleasant  to  a 
man  who  was  in  a  frenzy  of  grief  at  the  base 
and  apparently  irremediable  trick  that  had 
been  played  upon  him.  I  had  supposed  that 
I  should  now  be  free  to  start  out  and  gain  the 
other  hundred  dollars  which  would  discharge 
my  obligation  to  my  master.  But  I  soon  saw 
that  I  was  to  begin  again  with  my  old  labors. 
7* 


78  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

It  was  useless  to  give  expression  to  my  feel 
ings,  and  I  went  about  my  work  with  as  quiet 
a  mind  as  I  could,  resolved  to  trust  in  God, 
and  never  despair. 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  79 


CHAPTER    IX. 

TAKEN   SOUTH,  AWAY  FROM  WIFE  AND  CHIL 
DREN, 

START  FOR  NEW  ORLEANS.  —  STUDY  NAVIGATION  ON  THE 
MISSISSIPPI. —  THE  CAPTAIN  STRUCK  BLIND. —  FIND  SOME 
OF  MY  OLD  COMPANIONS. — THE  LOWER  DEPTHS. 

THINGS  went  on  in  this  way  about  a  year. 
From  time  to  time  Master  Amos  joked  me 
about  the  six  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and 
said  his  brother  kept  writing  to  know  why  I 
did  not  send  something.  It  was  "  diamond 
cut  diamond"  with  the  two  brothers.  Mr. 
Amos  had  no  desire  to  play  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Isaac.  He  was  glad  enough  to  secure  my 
services  to  take  care  of  his  stock  and  his  peo- 
pie. 

One  day  my  master  suddenly  informed  me 
that  his  son  Amos,  a  young  man  about  twen 
ty-one  years  of  age,  was  going  down  the  river 


80  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

to  New  Orleans,  with  a  flat-boat  loaded  with 
produce,  and  that  I  was  to  go  with  him.  He 
was  to  start  the  next  day,  and  I  was  to  ac 
company  him  and  help  him  dispose  of  his 
cargo  to  the  best  advantage. 

This  intimation  was  enough.  Though  it 
was  not  distinctly  stated,  yet  I  well  knew 
what  was  intended,  and  my  heart  sunk  within 
me  at  the  near  prospect  of  this  fatal  blight  to 
all  my  long-cherished  hopes.  There  was  no 
alternative  but  death  itself;  and  I  thought 
that  there  was  hope  as  long  as  there  was  life, 
and  I  would  not  despair  even  yet.  The  ex 
pectation  of  my  fate,  however,  produced  the 
degree  of  misery  nearest  to  that  of  despair ; 
and  it  is  in  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to  describe 
the  wretchedness  I  experienced  as  I  made 
ready  to  go  on  board  the  flat-boat.  I  had  lit 
tle  preparation  to  make,  to  be  sure  ;  and  there 
was  but  one  thing  that  seemed  to  me  impor 
tant.  I  asked  my  wife  to  sew  up  my  manu 
mission  paper  securely  in  a  piece  of  cloth,  and 
to  sew  that  again  round  my  person.  I  thought 
that  having  possession  of  it  might  be  the 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  81 

means  of  saving  me  yet,  and  I  would  not 
neglect  anything  that  offered  the  smallest 
chance  of  escape  from  the  frightful  servitude 
that  threatened  me. 

The  immediate  cause  of  this  movement  on 
the  part  of  Master  Amos  I  never  fully  under 
stood.  It  grew  out  of  a  frequent  exchange 
of  letters,  which  had  been  kept  up  between 
him  and  his  brother  in  Maryland.  Whether 
as  a  compromise  between  their  rival  claims  it 
was  agreed  to  sell  me  and  divide  the  proceeds, 
or  that  Master  Amos,  in  fear  of  my  running 
away,  had  resolved  to  turn  me  into  riches 
without  wings,  for  his  own  profit,  I  never 
knew.  The  fact  of  his  intention,  however, 
was  clear  enough  ;  and  God  knows  it  was  a 
fearful  blow. 

My  wife  and  children  accompanied  me  to 
the  landing,  where  I  bade  them  an  adieu 
which  might  be  for  life,  and  then  stepped  into 
the  boat,  which  I  found  manned  by  three 
white  men,  who  had  been  hired  for  the  trip. 
Mr.  Amos  and  myself  were  the  only  other 
persons  on  board.  The  load  consisted  of 


82  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 


.. 


beef-cattle,  pigs,  poultry,  corn,  whisky,  and 
other  articles  from  the  farm,  and  from  some 
of  the  neighboring  estates,  which  were  to  be 
sold  as  we  dropped  down  the  river,  wherever 
they  could  be  disposed  of  to  the  greatest  ad 
vantage.  It  was  a  common  trading  voyage 
to  New  Orleans,  in  which  I  was  embarked, 
the  interest  of  which  consisted  not  in  the  in 
cidents  that  occurred,  not  in  storms,  or  ship 
wreck,  or  external  disaster  of  any  sort ;  but  in 
the  storm  of  passions  contending  within  me, 
and  the  imminent  risk  of  the  shipwreck  of  my 
sou],  which  was  impending  over  me  nearly  the 
whole  period  of  the  voyage.  One  circum 
stance,  only,  I  will  mention,  illustrating,  as 
other  events  in  my  life  have  often  done,  the 
counsel  of  the  Saviour,  "  He  that  will  be 
chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant." 

We  were,  of  course,  all  bound  to  take  our 
trick  at  the  helm  in  turn,  sometimes  under 
direction  of  the  captain,  and  sometimes  on 
our  own  responsibility,  as  he  could  not  be 
always  awake.  In  the  daytime  there  was 
less  difficulty  than  at  night,  when  it  required 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  83 

some  one  who  knew  the  river,  to  avoid  sand 
bars  and  snags,  and  the  captain  was  the  only 
person  on  board  who  had  this  knowledge. 
But  whether  by  day  or  by  night,  as  I  was  the 
only  negro  in  the  boat,  I  was  made  to  stand 
at  least  three  tricks  (white  men  are  very  fond 
of  such  tricks)  to  any  other  person's  one  ;  so 
that,  from  being  much  with  the  captain,  and 
frequently  thrown  upon  my  own  exertions,  I 
learned  the  art  of  steering  and  managing  the 
boat  far  better  than  the  rest.  I  watched  the 
manoeuvres  necessary  to  shoot  by  a  sawyer,  to 
land  on  a  bank,  or  avoid  a  snag,  or  a  steam 
boat,  in  the  rapid  current  of  the  Mississippi, 
till  I  could  do  it  as  well  as  the  captain.  After 
a  while  he  was  attacked  by  a  disease  of  the 
eyes ;  they  became  very  much  inflamed  and 
swollen.  He  was  soon  rendered  totally  blind, 
and  unable  to  perform  his  share  of  duty.  This 
disorder  is  not  an  unfrequent  consequence  of 
exposure  to  the  light  of  the  sun,  doubled  in 
intensity  as  it  is  by  the  reflection  from  the 
river.  I  was  the  person  who  could  best  take 
his  place,  and  I  was  in  fact  master,  of  the 


84  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

boat  from  that  time  till  our  arrival  at  New 
Orleans. 

After  the  captain  became  blind  we  were 
obliged  to  lie  by  at  night,  as  none  of  the  rest 
of  us  had  been  down  the  river  before ;  and  it 
was  necessary  to  keep  watch  all  night,  to  pre 
vent  depredations  by  the  negroes  on  shore, 
who  used  frequently  to  attack  such  boats  as 
ours,  for  the  sake  of  the  provisions  on  board. 

On  our  way  down  the  river  we  stopped  at 
Vicksburg,  and  I  got  permission  to  visit  a 
plantation  a  few  miles  from  the  town,  where 
some  of  my  old  companions  whom  I  had 
brought  from  Kentucky  were  living.  It  was 
the  saddest  visit  I  ever  made.  Four  years  in 
an  unhealthy  climate  and  under  a  hard  master 
had  done  the  ordinary  work  of  twenty.  Their 
cheeks  were  literally  caved  in  with  starvation 
and  disease,  and  their  bodies  infested  with 
vermin.  No  hell  could  equal  the  misery  they 
described  as  their  daily  portion.  Toiling  half 
naked  in  malarious  marshes,  under  a  burning, 
maddening  sun,  and  poisoned  by  swarms  of 
musquitoes  and  black  gnats,  they  looked  for- 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  85 

ward  to  death  as  their  only  deliverance.  Some 
of  them  fairly  cried  at  seeing  me  there,  and  at 
thought  of  the  fate  which  they  felt  awaited 
me.  Their  worst  fears  of  being  sold  down 
South  had  been  more  than  realized.  I  went 
away  sick  at  heart,  and  to  this  day  the  sight 
of  that  wretched  group  haunts  me. 
8 


86  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER   X. 

A  TERRIBLE   TEMPTATION. 

SIGH  FOR  DEATH. — A  MURDER  IN  MY  HEART.  —  THE  JLXB 
RAISED.  —  CONSCIENCE  SPEAKS  AND  I  AM  SAVED. — GOD 
BE  PRAISED! 

Now  all  outward  nature  seemed  to  feed  my 
gloomy  thoughts.  I  know  not  what  most  men 
see  in  voyaging  down  the  Mississippi.  If  gay 
and  hopeful,  probably  much  of  beauty  and 
interest.  If  eager  merchants,  probably  a  gold 
en  river,  freighted  with  the  wealth  of  nations. 
I  saw  nothing  but  portents  of  woe  and  des 
pair.  Wretched  slave-pens ;  a  smell  of  stag 
nant  waters;  half-putrid  carcasses  of  horses 
or  oxen  floating  along,  covered  with  turkey 
buzzards  and  swarms  of  green  flies,  —  these 
are  the  images  with  which  memory  crowds 
my  mind.  My  faith  in  God  utterly  gave  way. 
I  could  no  longer  pray  or  trust.  He  had 


OF  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  87 

abandoned  me  and  cast  me  off  forever.  I 
looked  not  to  him  for  help.  I  saw  only  the 
foul  miasmas,  the  emaciated  frames  of  my 
negro  companions;  and  in  them  saw  the  sure, 
swift,  loving  intervention  of  the  one  unfailing 
friend  of  the  wretched,  —  death !  Yes ;  death 
and  the  grave!  "  There  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest.  There 
the  prisoners  rest  together ;  they  hear  not  the 
voice  of  the  oppressor."  Two  years  of  this 
would  kill  me.  I  dwelt  on  the  thought  with 
melancholy  yet  sweet  satisfaction.  Two 
years !  and  then  I  should  be  free.  Free !  ever 
my  cherished  hope,  though  not  as  I  had 
thought  it  would  come. 

As  I  paced  backwards  and  forwards  on  the 
deck,  during  my  watch,  it  may  well  be  be 
lieved  I  revolved  in  my  mind  many  a  painful 
and  passionate  thought.  After  all  that  I  had 
done  for  Isaac  and  Amos  Riley,  after  all  the 
regard  they  had  professed  for  me,  such  a  return 
as  this  for  my  services,  such  an  evidence  of 
their  utter  disregard  of  my  claims  upon  them, 
and  the  intense  selfishness  with  which  they 


88  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

were  ready  to  sacrifice  me,  at  any  moment,  to 
their  supposed  interest,  turned  my  blood  to 
gall,  and  changed  me  from  a  lively,  and,  I  will 
say,  a  pleasant-tempered  fellow,  into  a  savage, 
morose,  dangerous  slave.  I  was  going  not  at 
all  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter ;  but  I  felt  my 
self  becoming  more  ferocious  every  day ;  and 
as  we  approached  the  place  where  this  iniquity 
was  to  be  consummated,  I  became  more  and 
more  agitated  with  an  almost  uncontrollable 
fury.  I  said  to  myself,  «  If  this  is  to  be  my 
lot,  I  cannot  survive  it  long.  I  am  not  so 
young  as  those  whose  wretched  condition  I 
have  but  just  now  seen,  and  if  it  has  brought 
them  to  such  a  condition,  it  will  soon  kill  me. 
I  am  to  be  taken  by  my  masters  and  owners, 
who  ought  to  be  my  grateful  friends,  to  a 
place  and  a  condition  where  my  life  is  to  be 
shortened,  as  well  as  made  more  wretched. 
Why  should  I  not  prevent  this  wrong  if  I  can, 
by  shortening  their  lives,  or  those  of  their 
agents,  in  accomplishing  such  detestable  in 
justice?  I  can  do  the  last  easily  enough. 
They  have  no  suspicion  of  me,  and  they  are 


OF   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  89 

at  this  moment  under  my  control,  and  in  my 
power.  There  are  many  ways  in  which  I  can 
dispatch  them  and  escape ;  and  I  feel  that  I 
should  be  justified  in  availing  myself  of  the 
first  good  opportunity."  These  were  not 
thoughts  which  just  flitted  across  my  mind's 
eye  and  then  disappeared.  They  fashioned 
themselves  into  shapes  which  grew  larger  and 
seemed  firmer  every  time  they  presented  them 
selves  ;  and  at  length  my  mind  was  made  up 
to  convert  the  phantom  shadow  into  a  positive 
reality. 

I  resolved  to  kill  my  four  companions,  take 
what  money  there  was  in  the  boat,  then  to 
scuttle  the  craft,  and  escape  to  the  north.  It 
was  a  poor  plan,  maybe,  and  would  very 
likely  have  failed ;  but  it  was  as  well  con 
trived,  under  the  circumstances,  as  the  plans 
of  murderers  usually  are  ;  and  blinded  by 
passion,  and  stung  to  madness  as  I  was,  I 
could  not  see  any  difficulty  about  it.  One 
dark,  rainy  night,  within  a  few  days7  sail  of 
New  Orleans,  my  hour  seemed  to  have  come. 
I  was  alone  on  the  deck ;  Master  Amos  and 
8* 


90  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

the  hands  were  all  asleep  below,  and  I  crept 
down  noiselessly,  got  hold  of  an  axe,  entered 
the  cabin,  and  looking  by  the  aid  of  the  dim 
light  there  for  my  victims,  my  eye  fell  upon 
Master  Amos,  who  was  nearest  to  me ;  my 
hand  slid  along  the  axe-handle  ;  I  raised  it  to 
strike  the  fatal  blow,  —  when  suddenly  the 
thought  came  to  me,  "  What !  commit  mur 
der  !  and  you  a  Christian  ?  "  I  had  not  called 
it  murder  before.  It  was  self-defence, —  it 
was  preventing  others  from  murdering  me,  — 
it  was  justifiable,  it  was  even  praiseworthy. 
But  now,  all  at  once,  the  truth  burst  upon  me 
that  it  was  a  crime.  I  was  going  to  kill  a 
young  man  who  had  done  nothing  to  injure 
me,  but  was  only  obeying  commands  which 
he  could  not  resist ;  I  was  about  to  lose  the 
fruit  of  all  my  efforts  at  self-improvement,  the 
character  I  had  acquired,  and  the  peace  of 
mind  that  had  never  deserted  me.  All  this 
came  upon  me  instantly,  and  with  a  distinct 
ness  which  almost  made  me  think  I  heard  it 
whispered  in  my  ear ;  and  I  believe  I  even 
turned  my  head  to  listen.  I  shrunk  back,  laid 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  91 

down  the  axe,  and  thanked  God,  as  I  have 
done  every  day  since,  that  I  had  not  commit 
ted  murder. 

My  feelings  were  still  agitated,  but  they 
were  changed.  I  was  filled  with  shame  and 
remorse  for  the  design  J  had  entertained,  and 
with  the  fear  that  my  companions  would  de 
tect  it  in  my  face,  or  that  a  careless  word 
would  betray  my  guilty  thoughts.  I  remained 
on  deck  all  night,  instead  of  rousing  one  of 
the  men  to  relieve  ;  and  nothing  brought  com 
posure  to  my  mind  but  the  solemn  resolution 
I  then  made,  to  resign  myself  to  the  will  of 
God,  and  take  with  thankfulness,  if  I  could, 
but  with  submission,  at  all  events,  whatever 
he  might  decide  should  be  my  lot.  I  reflected 
that  if  my  life  were  reduced  to  a  brief  term,  I 
should  have  less  to  suffer ;  and  that  it  was 
better  to  die  with  a  Christian's  hope,  and  a 
quiet  conscience,  than  to  live  with  the  inces 
sant  recollection  of  a  crime  that  would  destroy 
the  value  of  life,  and  under  the  weight  of  a 
secret  that  would  crush  out  the  satisfaction 


92  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

that   might   be   expected   from   freedom   and 
every  other  blessing. 

It  was  long  before  I  recovered  my  self-con 
trol  and  serenity ;  but  I  believe  that  no  one 
but  those  to  whom  I  have  told  the  story  my 
self,  ever  suspected  me  of  having  entertained 
such  thoughts  for  a  moment. 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  93 


CHAPTER   XL 

PROVIDENTIAL  DELIVERANCE. 

OFFERED  FOR   SALE. EXAMINED  BY  PURCHASERS. PLEAD 

WITH    MY    YOUNG    MASTER  IN  VAIN. MAN'S    EXTREMITY, 

GOD'S  OPPORTUNITY. — GOOD  FOR  EVIL. — RETURN  NORTH. 
—  MY  INCREASED  VALUE.  —  RESOLVE  TO  BE  A  SLAVE  NO 
LONGER. 

IN  a  few  days  after  this  trying  crisis  in  my 
life,  we  arrived  at  New  Orleans.  The  little 
that  remained  of  our  cargo  was  soon  sold,  the 
men  were  discharged,  and  nothing  was  left 
but  to  dispose  of  me,  and  break  up  the  boat, 
and  then  Master  Amos  would  take  passage  on 
a  steamboat,  and  go  home.  There  was  no 
longer  any  disguise  about  the  disposition 
which  was  to  be  made  of  me.  Master  Amos 
acknowledged  that  such  were  his  instructions, 
and  he  set  about  fulfilling  them.  Several 
planters  came  to  the  boat  to  look  at  me ;  I 
was  sent  on  some  hasty  errand  that  they 


94  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

might  see  how  I  could  run ;  my  points  were 
canvassed  as  those  of  a  horse  would  have 
been ;  and,  doubtless,  some  account  of  my 
various  faculties  entered  into  the  discussion 
of  the  bargain,  that  my  value  as  a  domestic 
animal  might  be  enhanced.  Master  Amos  had 
talked,  with  apparent  kindness,  about  getting 
me  a  good  master,  who  would  employ  me  as 
a  coachman,  or  as  a  house-servant ;  but  as 
time  passed  on  I  could  discern  no  particular 
effort  of  the  kind. 

In  our  intervals  of  leisure  I  tried  every  pos 
sible  means  to  move  his  heart.  With  tears 
and  groans  I  besought  him  not  to  sell  me 
away  from  my  wife  and  children.  I  dwelt  on 
my  past  services  to  his  father,  and  called  to 
his  remembrance  a  thousand  things  I  had 
done  for  him  personally.  I  told  him  about  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  slaves  I  had  seen 
near  Vicksburg.  Sometimes  he  would  shed 
tears  himself,  and  say  he  was  sorry  for  me. 
But  still  I  saw  his  purpose  was  unchanged. 
He  now  kept  out  of  my  way  as  much  as  pos 
sible,  and  forestalled  every  effort  I  made  to 


OP   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  95 

talk  with  him.  His  conscience  evidently 
troubled  him.  He  knew  he  was  doing  a  cruel 
and  wicked  thing,  and  wanted  to  escape  from 
thinking  about  it.  I  followed  him  up  hard, 
for  I  was  supplicating  for  my  life.  I  fell  down 
and  clung  to  his  knees  in  entreaties.  Some 
times  when  too  closely  pressed,  he  would 
curse  and  strike  me.  May  God  forgive  him. 
And  yet  it  was  not  all  his  fault.  He  was 
made  so  by  the  accursed  relation  of  slave- 
master  and  slave.  I  was  property,  —  not  a 
man,  not  a  father,  not  a  husband.  And  the 
laws  of  property  and  self-interest,  not  of  hu 
manity  and  love,  bore  sway. 

At  length  everything  was  wound  up  but 
this  single  affair.  I  was  to  be  sold  the  next 
day,  and  Master  Amos  was  to  set  oft'  on  his 
return,  in  a  steamboat,  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  I  could  not  sleep  that  night;  its 
hours  seemed  interminably  long,  though  it  was 
one  of  the  shortest  of  the  year.  The  slow 
way  in  which  we  had  come  down  had  brought 
us  to  the  long  days  and  heats  of  June ;  and 


96  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

everybody  knows  what  the  climate  of   New 
Orleans  is  at  that  period  of  the  year. 

And  now  occurred  one  of  those  sudden, 
marked  interpositions  of  Providence,  by  which 
in  a  moment  the  whole  current  of  a  human 
being's  life  is  changed;  one  of  those  slight 
and,  at  first,  unappreciated  contingencies,  by 
which  the  faith  that  man's  extremity  is  God's 
opportunity  is  kept  alive.  Little  did  I  think, 
when  a  little  before  daylight  Master  Amos 
called  me  and'told  me  he  felt  sick,  how  much 
my  future  was  bound  up  in  those  few  words. 
His  stomach  was  disordered,  and  I  advised 
him  to  lie  down  again,  thinking  it  would  soon 
pass  off.  Before  long  he  felt  worse,  and  it  was 
soon  evident  that  the  river  fever  was  upon 
him.  He  became  rapidly  ill,  and  by  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning  was  utterly  prostrate. 
The  tables  were  now  turned.  I  was  no  longer 
property,  no  longer  a  brute  beast  to  be  bought 
and  sold,  but  his  only  friend  in  the  midst  of 
strangers.  Oh,  how  different  was  his  tone 
from  what  it  had  been  the  day  before !  He 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  97 

was  now  the  supplicant.  A  poor,  terrified 
object,  afraid  of  death,  and  writhing  with 
pain,  there  lay  the  late  arbiter  of  my  destiny. 
How  he  besought  me  to  forgive  him.  "  Stick 
to  me,  Sie !  Stick  to  me,  Sie !  Don't  leave 
me,  don't  leave  me.  I'm  sorry  I  was  going  to 
sell  you."  Sometimes  he  would  say  he  had 
only  been  joking,  and  never  intended  to  part 
with  me.  Yes,  the  tables  were  utterly  turned. 
He  entreated  me  to  dispatch  matters,  sell  the 
flat-boat  in  which  we  had  been  living,  and  get 
him  and  his  trunk,  containing  the  proceeds  of 
the  trip,  on  board  the  steamer  as  quick  as  pos 
sible.  I  attended  to  all  his  requests,  and  by 
twelve  o'clock  that  day  he  was  in  one  of  the 
cabins  of  the  steamer  appropriated  to  sick< 
passengers. 

O,  my  God!  how  my  heart  sang  jubilees  of 
praise  to  Thee,  as  the  steamboat  swung  loose 
from  the  levee  and  breasted  the  mighty  tide 
of  the  Mississippi !  Away  from  this  land  of 
bondage  and  death !  Away  from  misery  and 
despair !  Once  more  exulting  hope  possessed 
me.  This  time  if  I  do  not  open  my  way  to 
9 


98  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

freedom,   may    God   never   give    me    chance 
again ! 

Before  we  had  proceeded  many  hours  on 
our  voyage,  a  change  for  the  better  appeared 
in  my  young  master.  The  change  of  air  in  a 
measure  revived  him ;  and  well  it  was  for  him 
that  such  was  the  case.  Short  as  his  illness 
had  been,  the  fever  had  raged  like  a  fire,  and 
he  was  already  near  death.  I  watched  and 
nursed  him  like  a  mother;  for  all  remembrance 
of  personal  wrong  was  obliterated  at  sight  of 
his  peril.  His  eyes  followed  me  in  entreaty 
wherever  I  went.  His  strength  was  so  en 
tirely  gone  that  he  could  neither  speak  nor 
move  a  limb,  and  could  only  indicate  his  wish 
for  a  teaspoonful  of  gruel,  or  something  to 
moisten  his  throat,  by  a  feeble  motion  of  his 
lips.  I  nursed  him  carefully  and  constantly. 
Nothing  else  could  have  saved  his  life.  It 
hung  by  a  thread,  for  a  long  time.  We  were 
as  much  as  twelve  days  in  reaching  home,  for 
the  water  was  low  at  that  season,  particularly 
in  the  Ohio  river;  and  when  we  arrived  at 
our  landing  he  was  still  unable  to  speak,  and 


OP   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  99 

could  only  be  moved  on  a  sheet  or  a  litter. 
Something  of  this  sort  was  soon  fixed  up  at 
the  landing,  on  which  he  could  be  carried  to 
the  house,  which  was  five  miles  off;  and  I  got 
a  party  of  the  slaves  belonging  to  the  estate 
to  form  relays  for  the  purpose.  As  we  ap 
proached  the  house,  the  surprise  at  seeing  me 
back  again,  and  the  perplexity  to  imagine 
what  I  was  bringing  along,  with  such  a  party, 
were  extreme ;  but  the  discovery  was  soon 
made  which  explained  the  strange  appear 
ance  ;  and  the  grief  of  father  and  mother,  and 
brothers  and  sisters,  made  itself  seen  and 
heard.  Loud  and  long  were  the  lamentations 
over  poor  Amos;  and  when  the  family  came 
a  little  to  themselves,  great  were  the  commen 
dations  bestowed  upon  me  for  my  care  of  him 
and  of  the  property. 

Although  we  reached  home  by  the  tenth  of 
July,  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  August 
that  Master  Amos  was  well  enough  to  leave 
his  chamber.  To  do  him  justice,  he  mani 
fested  strong  gratitude  towards  me.  Almost 
his  first  words  after  recovering  his  strength 


100  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

sufficiently  to  talk,  were  in  commendation  of 
my  conduct.  "  If  I  had  sold  him  I  should 
have  died."  On  the  rest  of  the  family  no 
permanent  impression  seemed  to  have  been 
made.  The  first  few  words  of  praise  were  all 
I  ever  received.  I  was  set  at  my  old  work. 
My  merits,  whatever  they  were,  instead  of  ex 
citing  sympathy  or  any  feeling  of  attachment 
to  me,  seemed  only  to  enhance  my  market 
value  in  their  eyes.  I  saw  that  my  master's 
only  thought  was  to  render  me  profitable  to 
himself.  From  him  I  had  nothing  to  hope, 
and  I  turned  my  thoughts  to  myself  and  my 
own  energies. 

Before  long  I  felt  assured  another  attempt 
would  be  made  to  dispose  of  me.  Providence 
seemed  to  have  interfered  once  to  defeat  the 
scheme,  but  I  could  not  expect  such  extraordi 
nary  circumstances  to  be  repeated ;  and  I  was 
bound  to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  secure 
myself  and  my  family  from  the  wicked  con 
spiracy  of  Isaac  and  Amos  Riley  against  my 
life,  as  well  as  against  my  natural  rights,  and 
those  which  I  had  acquired,  under  even  the 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  101 

barbarous  laws  of  slavery,  by  the  money  I 
had  paid  for  myself.  If  Isaac  would  only 
have  been  honest  enough  to  adhere  to  his  bar 
gain,  I  would  have  adhered  to  mine,  and  paid 
him  all  I  had  promised.  But  his  attempt  to 
kidnap  me  again,  after  having  pocketed  three- 
fourths  of  my  market  value,  in  my  opinion 
absolved  me  from  all  obligation  to  pay  him 
any  more,  or  to  continue  in  a  position  which 
exposed  me  t  >  his  machinations. 
9* 


102  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER    XII. 

ESCAPE  FROM  BONDAGE. 

SOLITARY     MUSINGS.  —  PREPARATIONS      FOR     FLIGHT.  —  A 
LONG     GOOD     NIGHT     TO    MASTER. — A   DARK    NIGHT     ON 

THE     RIYER.  —  NIGHT   JOURNEYS    IN    INDIANA. ON    THE 

BRINK     OF     STARVATION. A     KIND     WOMAN. A     NEW 

STYLE    OF   DRINKING    CUP.  —  REACH    CINCINNATI. 

DURING  the  bright  and  hopeful  days  I  spent 
in  Ohio,  while  away  on  my  preaching  tour,  I 
had  heard  much  of  the  course  pursued  by  fu 
gitives  from  slavery,  and  became  acquainted 
with  a  number  of  benevolent  men  engaged  in 
helping  them  on  their  way.  Canada  was 
often  spoken  of  as  the  only  sure  refuge  from 
pursuit,  and  that  blessed  land  was  now  the 
desire  of  my  longing  heart.  Infinite  toils  and 
perils  lay  between  me  and  that  haven  of  prom 
ise  ;  enough  to  daunt  the  stoutest  heart ;  but 
the  fire  behind  me  was  too  hot  and  fierce  to 
let  me  pause  to  consider  them.  I  knew  the 


OP   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  103 

North  Star  —  blessed  be  God  for  setting  it  in 
the  heavens  !  Like  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  it 
announced  where  my  salvation  lay.  Could  I 
follow  it  through  forest,  and  stream,  and  field, 
it  would  guide  my  feet  in  the  way  of  hope.  I 
thought  of  it  as  my  God-given  guide  to  the 
land  of  promise  far  away  beneath  its  light.  I 
knew  that  it  had  led  thousands  of  my  poor, 
hunted  brethren  to  freedom  an*d  blessedness. 
I  felt  energy  enough  in  my  own  breast  to  con 
tend  with  privation  and  danger  ;  and  had  I 
been  a  free,  untrammeled  man,  knowing  no 
tie  of  father  or  husband,  and  concerned  for 
my  own  safety  only,  I  would  have  felt  all  dif 
ficulties  light  in  view  of  the  hope  that  was 
set  before  me.  But,  alas !  I  had  a  wife  and 
four  dear  children  ;  how  should  I  provide  for 
them  ?  Abandon  them  I  could  not ;  no  !  not 
even  for  the  blessed  boon  of  freedom.  They, 
too,  must  go.  They,  too,  must  share  with  me 
the  life  of  liberty. 

It  was  not  without  long  thought  upon  the 
subject  that  I  devised  a  plan  of  escape.  But 
at  last  I  matured  it.  My  mind  fully  made  up, 


104  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

I  communicated  the  intention  to  my  wife. 
She  was  overwhelmed  with  terror.  With  a 
woman's  instinct  she  clung  to  hearth  and 
home.  She  knew  nothing  of  the  wide  world 
beyond,  and  her  imagination  peopled  it  with 
unseen  horrors.  "We  should  die  in  the  wil 
derness, —  we  should  be  hunted  down  with 
blood-hounds,  —  we  should  be  brought  back 
and  whipped  to  death.  With  tears  and  sup 
plications  she  besought  me  to  remain  at  home, 
contented.  In  vain  I  explained  to  her  our  lia 
bility  to  be  torn  asunder  at  any  moment ;  the 
horrors  of  the  slavery  I  had  lately  seen ;  the 
happiness  we  should  enjoy  together  in  a  land 
of  freedom,  safe  from  all  pursuing  harm.  She 
had  not  suffered  the  bitterness  of  my  lot,  nor 
felt  the  same  longing  for  deliverance.  She 
was  a  poor,  ignorant,  unreasoning  slave-wo 
man. 

I  argued  the  matter  with  her  at  various 
times,  till  I  was  satisfied  that  argument  alone 
would  not  prevail.  I  then  told  her  deliber 
ately,  that  though  it  would  be  a  cruel  trial  for 
me  to  part  with  her,  I  would  nevertheless  do 


OF   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  105 

it,  and  take  all  the  children  with  me  except 
the  youngest,  rather  than  remain  at  home, 
only  to  be  forcibly  torn  from  her,  and  sent 
down  to  linger  out  a  wretched  existence  in 
the  hell  I  had  lately  visited.  Again  she  wept 
and  entreated,  but  I  was  sternly  resolute.  The 
whole  night  long  she  fruitlessly  urged  me  to 
relent ;  exhausted  and  maddened,  I  left  her,  in 
the  morning,  to  go  to  my  work  for  the  day. 
Before  I  had  gone  far,  I  heard  her  voice  call 
ing  me,  and  waiting  till  I  came  up,  she  said, 
at  last,  she  would  go  with  me.  Blessed  re 
lief  !  my  tears  of  joy  flowed  faster  than  had 
hers  of  grief. 

Our  cabin,  at  this  time,  was  near  the  land 
ing.  The  plantation  itself  extended  the  whole 
five  miles  from  the  house  to  the  river.  There 
were  several  distinct  farms,  all  of  which  I  was 
over-seeing,  and  therefore  I  was  riding  about 
from  one  to  another  every  day.  Our  oldest 
boy  was  at  the  house  with  Master  Amos ;  the 
rest  of  the  children  were  with  my  wife. 

The  chief  practical  difficulty  that  had 
weighed  upon  my  mind,  was  connected  with 


106  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

the  youngest  two  of  the  children.  They  were 
of  three  and  two  years,  respectively,  and  of 
course  would  have  to  be  carried.  Both  stout 
and  healthy,  they  were  a  heavy  burden,  and 
my  wife  had  declared  that  I  should  break 
down  under  it  before  I  had  got  five  miles 
from  home.  Sometime  previously  I  had  di 
rected  her  to  make  me  a  large  knapsack  of 
tow  cloth,  large  enough  to  hold  them  both, 
and  arranged  with  strong  straps  to  go  round 
my  shoulders.  This  done,  I  had  practised 
carrying  them  night  after  night,  both  to  test 
my  own  strength  and  accustom  them  to  sub 
mit  to  it.  To  them  it  was  fine  fun,  and  to 
my  great  joy  I  found  I  could  manage  them 
successfully.  My  wife's  consent  was  given  on 
Thursday  morning,  and  I  resolved  to  start  on 
the  night  of  the  following  Saturday.  Sunday 
was  a  holiday ;  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  I 
was  to  be  away  on  farms  distant  from  the 
house  ;  thus  several  days  would  elapse  before 
I  should  be  missed,  and  by  that  time  I  should 
have  got  a  good  start. 

At  length  the  eventful  night  arrived.      A.11 


OP  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  107 

things  were  ready,  with  the  single  exception 
that  I  had  not  yet  obtained  my  master's  per 
mission  for  little  Tom  to  visit  his  mother. 
About  sundown  I  went  up  to  the  great  house 
to  report  my  work,  and  after  talking  for  a 
time,  started  off,  as  usual,  for  home  ;  when, 
suddenly  appearing  to  recollect  something  I 
had  forgotten,  I  turned  carelessly  back,  and 
said,  "  O,  Master  Amos,  I  most  forgot.  Tom's 
mother  wants  to  know  if  you  won't  let  him 
come  down  a  few  days  ;  she  wants  to  mend 
his  clothes  and  fix  him  up  a  little."  "  Yes, 
boy,  yes ;  he  can  go."  "  Thankee,  Master 
Amos  ;  good  night,  good  night.  The  Lord 
bless  you ! "  In  spite  of  myself  I  threw  a 
good  deal  of  emphasis  into  my  farewell.  I 
could  not  refrain  from  an  inward  chuckle  at 
the  thought  —  how  long  a  good  night  that 
will  be !  The  coast  was  all  clear  now,  and,  as 
I  trudged  along  home,  I  took  an  affectionate 
look  at  the  well-known  objects  on  my  way. 
Strange  to  say,  sorrow  mingled  with  my  joy  ; 
but  no  man  can  live  anywhere  long  without 
feeling  some  attachment  to  the  soil  on  which 
he  labors. 


108  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  September,  and 
by  nine  o'clock  all  was  ready.  It  was  a  dark, 
moonless  night,  when  we  got  into  the  little 
skiff,  in  which  I  had  induced  a  fellow  slave  to 
set  us  across  the  river.  It  was  an  anxious 
moment.  We  sat  still  as  death.  In  the  mid 
dle  of  the  stream  the  good  fellow  said  to  me, 
"  It  will  be  the  end  of  me  if  this  is  ever  found 
out ;  but  you  won't  be  brought  back  alive, 
Sie,  will  you  ?  "  "  Not  if  I  can  help  it,"  I 
replied ;  and  I  thought  of  the  pistols  and  knife 
I  had  bought  some  time  before  of  a  poor 
white.  "  And  if  they're  too  many  for  you, 
and  you  get  seized,  you'll  never  tell  my  part 
in  this  business  ?  "  "  Not  if  I'm  shot  through 
like  a  sieve."  «  That's  all,"  said  he,  « and 
God  help  you/'  Heaven  reward  him.  He, 
too,  has  since  followed  in  my  steps ;  and 
many  a  time  in  a  land  of  freedom  have  we 
talked  over  that  dark  night  on  the  river. 

In  due  time  we  landed  on  the  Indiana  shore. 
A  hearty,  grateful  farewell,  such  as  none  but 
companions  in  danger  can  know,  and  I  heard 
the  oars  of  the  skiff  propelling  him  horn 


OP  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  109 

There  I  stood  in  the  darkness,  my  dear  ones 
with  me,  and  the  all  unknown  future  before 
us.  But  there  was  little  time  for  reflection. 
Before  daylight  should  come  on,  we  must  put 
as  many  miles  behind  us  as  possible,  and  be 
safely  hidden  in  the  woods.  "We  had  no 
friends  to  look  to  for  assistance,  for  the  popu 
lation  in  that  section  of  the  country  was  then 
bitterly  hostile  to  the  fugitive.  If  discovered, 
we  should  be  seized  and  lodged  in  jail.  In 
God  was  our  only  hope.  Fervently  did  I 
pray  to  him  as  we  trudged  on  cautiously  and 
steadily,  and  as  fast  as  the  darkness  and  the 
feebleness  of  my  wife  and  boys  would  allow. 
To  her,  indeed,  I  was  compelled  to  talk  stern 
ly  ;  she  trembled  like  a  leaf,  and  even  then 
implored  me  to  return. 

For  a  fortnight  we  pressed  steadily  on, 
keeping  to  the  road  during  the  night,  hiding 
whenever  a  chance  vehicle  or  horseman  was 
heard,  and  during  the  day  burying  ourselves 
in  the  woods.  Our  provisions  were  rapidly 
giving  out.  Two  days  before  reaching  Cin 
cinnati  they  were  utterly  exhausted.  All  night 
10 


110  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

long  the  children  cried  with  hunger,  and  my 
poor  wife  loaded  me  with  reproaches  for 
bringing  them  into  such  misery.  It  was  a 
bitter  thing  to  hear  them  cry,  and  God  knows 
I  needed  encouragement  myself.  My  limbs 
were  weary,  and  my  back  and  shoulders  raw 
with  the  burden  I  carried.  A  fearful  dread 
of  detection  ever  pursued  me,  and  I  would 
start  out  of  my  sleep  in  terror,  my  heart 
beating  against  my  ribs,  expecting  to  find 
the  dogs  and  slave-hunters  after  me.  Had  I 
been  alone  I  would  have  borne  starvation, 
even  to  exhaustion,  before  I  would  have  ven 
tured  in  sight  of  a  house  in  quest  of  food. 
But  now  something  must  be  done  ;  it  was 
necessary  to  run  the  risk  of  exposure  by  day 
light  upon  the  road. 

The  only  way  to  proceed  was  to  adopt  a 
bold  course.  Accordingly,  I  left  our  hiding- 
place,  took  to  the  road,  and  turned  towards 
the  south,  to  lull  any  suspicion  that  might  be 
aroused  were  I  to  be  seen  going  the  other 
way.  Before  long  I  came  to  a  house.  A 
furious  dog  rushed  out  at  me,  and  his  master 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  Ill 

following  to  quiet  him,  I  asked  if  he  would 
sell  me  a  little  bread  and  meat.  He  was  a 
surly  fellow.  "  No,  he  had  nothing  for  nig 
gers  !  "  At  the  next  I  succeeded  no  better,  at 
first.  The  man  of  the  house  met  me  in  the 
same  style ;  but  his  wife,  hearing  our  conver 
sation,  said  to  her  husband,  "  How  can  you 
treat  any  human  being  so  ?  If  a  dog  was 
hungry  I  would  give  him  something  to  eat." 
She  then  added,  "  We  have  children,  and  who 
knows  but  they  may  some  day  need  the  help 
of  a  friend."  The  man  laughed,  and  told 
her  that  she  might  take  care  of  niggers,  he 
wouldn't.  She  asked  me  to  come  in,  loaded 
a  plate  with  venison  and  bread,  and,  when  I 
laid  it  into  my  handkerchief,  and  put  a  quarter 
of  a  dollar  on  the  table,  she  quietly  took  it  up 
and  put  it  in  my  handkerchief,  with  an  ad 
ditional  quantity  of  venison.  I  felt  the  hot 
tears  roll  down  my  cheeks  as  she  said  "  God 
bless  you ; "  and  I  hurried  away  to  bless  my 
starving  wife  and  little  ones. 

A    little   while    after    eating    the   venison, 
which   was   quite    salt,  the   children  become 


112  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

very  thirsty,  and  groaned  and  sighed  so  that 
I  went  off  stealthily,  breaking  the  bushes  to 
keep  my  path,  to  find  water.  I  found  a  little 
rill,  and  drank  a  large  draught.  Then  I  tried 
to  carry  some  in  my  hat ;  but,  alas !  it  leaked. 
Finally,  I  took  off  both  shoes,  which  luckily 
had  no  holes  in  them,  rinsed  them  out,  filled 
them  with  water,  and  carried  it  to  my  family. 
They  drank  it  with  great  delight.  I  have 
since  then  sat  at  splendidly  furnished  tables 
in  Canada,  the  United  States,  and  England ; 
but  never  did  I  see  any  human  beings  relish 
anything  more  than  my  poor  famishing  little 
ones  did  that  refreshing  draught  out  of  their 
father's  shoes.  That  night  we  made  a  long 
run,  and  two  days  afterward  we  reached  Cin 
cinnati. 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  113 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

JOURNEY  TO   CANADA. 

GOOD  SAMARITANS. — ALONE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  —  MEET 
SOME  INDIANS.  —  REACH  SANDUSKY. — ANOTHER  FRIEND. 
—  ALL  ABOARD.  —  BUFFALO.  —  A  "  FREE  NIGGER."  — 
FRENZY  OF  JOY  ON  REACHING  CANADA. 

I  NOW  felt  comparatively  at  home.  Before 
entering  the  town  I  hid  my  wife  and  children 
in  the  woods,  and  then  walked  on  alone  in 
search  of  my  friends.  They  welcomed  me 
warmly,  and  just  after  dusk  my  wife  and  chil 
dren  were  brought  in,  and  we  found  ourselves 
hospitably  cheered  and  refreshed.  Two  weeks 
of  exposure  to  incessant  fatigue,  anxiety,  rain, 
and  chill,  made  it  indescribably  sweet  to  enjoy 
once  more  the  comfort  of  rest  and  shelter. 

Since  I  have  lived  in  a  land  of  freedom,  T 
have  heard  harsh  and  bitter  words  spoken  of 
10* 


114  FATHER   HENSON;S    STORY 

those  devoted  men  who  are  banded  together 
to  succor  and  bid  God  speed  the  hunted  fugi 
tive  ;  men  who,  through  pity  for  the  suffering, 
have  voluntarily  exposed  themselves  to  hatred, 
fines,  and  imprisonment.  If  there  be  a  God 
who  will  have  mercy  on  the  merciful,  great 
shall  be  their  reward.  In  the  great  day  when 
men  shall  stand  in  judgment  before  the  Divine 
Master,  crowds  of  the  outcast  and  forsaken  of 
earth  shall  gather  around  them,  and  in  joyful 
tones  bear  witness,  "  We  were  hungry  and  ye 
gave  us  meat,  thirsty  and  ye  gave  us  drink, 
naked  and  ye  clothed  us,  sick  and  ye  visited 
us."  And  he  who  has  declared  that,  "inas 
much  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me," 
shall  accept  the  attestation,  and  hail  them 
with  his  welcome,  "  Come  ye  blessed  of  my 
father."  They  can  afford  to  bide  their  time. 
Their  glory  shall  yet  be  proclaimed  from  the 
house-tops.  Meanwhile  may  that  "  peace  of 
God  which  the  world  can  neither  give  nor 
take  away  "  dwell  richly  in  their  hearts. 

Among  such  as  these  —  good  Samaritans, 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  115 

of  whom  the  Lord  would  say,  "  go  ye  and  do 
likewise," —  our  lot  was  now  cast.  Carefully 
they  provided  for  our  welfare  until  our  strength 
was  recruited,  and  then  they  set  us  thirty  miles 
on  our  way  by  wagon. 

We  followed  the  same  course  as  before  — 
travelling  by  night  and  resting  by  day — till 
we  arrived  at  the  Scioto,  where  we  had  been 
told  we  should  strike  the  military  road  "of 
General  Hull,  in  the  last  war  with  Great 
Britain,  and  might  then  safely  travel  by  day. 
We  found  the  road,  accordingly,  by  the  large 
sycamore  and  elms  which  marked  its  begin 
ning,  and  entered  upon  it  with  fresh  spirits 
early  in  the  day.  Nobody  had  told  us  that  it 
was  cut  through  the  wilderness,  and  I  had 
neglected  to  provide  any  food,  thinking  we 
should  soon  come  to  some  habitation,  where 
we  could  be  supplied.  But  we  travelled  on 
all  day  without  seeing  one,  and  lay  down  at 
night,  hungry  and  weary  enough.  The  wolves 
were  howling  around  us,  and  though  too  cow 
ardly  to  approach,  their  no'ise  terrified  my  poor 
wife  and  children.  Nothing  remained  to  us 


116  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

in  the  morning  but  a  little  piece  of  dried  beef, 
too  little,  indeed,  to  satisfy  our  cravings,  but 
enough  to  afflict  us  with  intolerable  thirst.  I 
divided  most  of  this  among  us,  and  then  we 
started  for  a  second  day's  tramp  in  the  wilder 
ness.  A  painful  day  it  was  to  us.  The  road 
was  rough,  the  underbrush  tore  our  clothes 
and  exhausted  our  strength;  trees  that  had 
be*  n  blown  down  blocked  the  way ;  we  were 
faint  with  hunger ;  and  no  prospect  of  relief 
opened  up  before  us.  We  spoke  little,  but 
steadily  struggled  along ;  I  with  my  babes  on 
my  back,  my  wife  aiding  the  two  other  chil 
dren  to  climb  over  the  fallen  trunks  and  force 
themselves  through  the  briers.  Suddenly,  as  I 
was  plodding  along  a  little  ahead  of  my  wife 
and  the  boys,  I  heard  them  call  me,  and  turn 
ing  round  saw  my  wife  prostrate  on  the  ground. 
"  Mother's  dying,"  cried  Torn ;  and  when  I 
reached  her  it  seemed  really  so.  From  sheer 
exhaustion  she  had  fallen  in  surmounting  a 
log.  Distracted  with  anxiety,  I  feared  she  was 
gone.  For  some  minutes  no  sign  of  life  was 
manifest;  but  after  a  time  she  opened  her 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  117 

eyes,  and  finally  recovering  enough  to  take  a 
few  mouthfuls  of  the  beef,  her  strength  re 
turned,  and  we  once  more  went  bravely  on 
our  way.  I  cheered  the  sad  group  with  hopes 
I  was  far  from  sharing  myself.  For  the  first 
time  I  was  nearly  ready  to  abandon  myself  to 
despair.  Starvation  in  the  wilderness  was  the 
doom  that  stared  me  and  mine  in  the  face. 
But  again,  "man's  extremity  was  God's  op 
portunity." 

We  had  not  gone  far,  and  I  suppose  it  was 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  we 
discerned  some  persons  approaching  us  at  no 
great  distance.  We  were  instantly  on  the 
alert,  as  we  could  hardly  expect  them  to  be 
friends.  The  advance  of  a  few  paces  showed 
me  they  were  Indians,  with  packs  on  their 
shoulders ;  and  they  were  so  near  that  if  they 
were  hostile  it  would  be  useless  to  try  to 
escape.  So  I  walked  along  boldly,  till  we 
came  close  upon  them.  They  were  bent  down 
with  their  burdens,  and  had  not  raised  their 
eyes  till  now ;  and  when  they  did  so,  and  saw 
me  coming  towards  them,  they  looked  at  me 


118  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

in  a  frightened  sort  of  way  for  a  moment,  and 
then,  setting  up  a  peculiar  howl,  turned  round, 
and  ran  as  fast  as  they  could.  There  were 
three  or  four  of  them,  and  what  they  were 
afraid  of  I  could  not  imagine,  unless  they 
supposed  I  was  the  devil,  whom  they  had  per 
haps  heard  of  as  black.  But,  even  then,  one 
would  have  thought  my  wife  and  children 
might  have  reassured  them.  However,  there 
wTas  no  doubt  they  were  well  frightened,  and 
we  heard  their  wild  and  prolonged  howl,  as 
they  ran,  for  a  mile  or  more.  My  wife  was 
alarmed,  too,  and  thought  they  were  merely 
running  back  to  collect  more  of  a  party,  and 
then  to  come  and  murder  us ;  and  she  wanted 
to  turn  back.  I  told  her  they  were  numerous 
enough  to  do  that,  if  they  wanted  to,  without 
help  ;  and  that  as  for  turning  back,  I  had  had 
quite  too  much  of  the  road  behind  us,  and 
that  it  would  be  a  ridiculous  thing  that  both 
parties  should  ran  away.  If  they  were  dis 
posed  to  run,  I  would  follow.  We  did  follow, 
and  the  noise  soon  ceased.  As  we  advanced, 
we  could  discover  Indians  peeping  at  us  from 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  119 

behind  the  trees,  and  dodging  out  of  of  sight 
if  they  thought  we  were  looking  at  them. 
Presently  we  came  upon  their  wigwams,  and 
saw  a  fine-looking,  stately  Indian,  with  his 
arms  folded,  waiting  for  us  to  approach.  He 
was,  apparently,  the  chief;  and,  saluting  us 
civilly,  he  soon  discovered  we  were  human 
beings,  and  spoke  to  his  young  men,  who  were 
scattered  about,  and  made  them  come  in  and 
give  up  their  foolish  fears.  And  now  curiosity 
seemed  to  prevail.  Each  one  wanted  to  touch 
the  children,  who  were  as  shy  as  partridges 
with  their  long  life  in  the  woods ;  and  as  they 
shrunk  away,  and  uttered  a  little  cry  of  alarm, 
the  Indian  would  jump  back  too,  as  if  he 
thought  they  would  bite  him.  However,  a 
little  while  sufficed  to  make  them  understand 
what  we  were,  and  whither  we  were  going, 
and  what  we  needed  ;  and  as  little  to  set  them 
about  supplying  our  wants,  feeding  us  bounti 
fully,  and  giving  us  a  comfortable  wigwam  for 
our  night's  rest.  The  next  day  we  resumed 
our  march,  having  ascertained  from  the  In 
dians  that  we  were  only  about  twenty-five 


120  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

miles  from  the  lake.  They  sent  some  of  their 
young  men  to  point  out  the  place  where  we 
were  to  turn  off,  and  parted  from  us  with  as 
much  kindness  as  possible. 

In  passing  over  the  part  of  Ohio  near 
the  lake,  where  such  an  extensive  plain  is 
found,  we  came  to  a  spot  overflowed  by  a 
stream,  across  which  the  road  passed.  I  ford 
ed  it  first,  with  the  help  of  a  sounding-pole, 
and  then  taking  the  children  on  my  back,  first 
the  two  little  ones,  and  then  the  others,  one  at 
a  time,  and,  lastly,  my  wife,  I  succeeded  in 
getting  them  safely  across.  At  this  time  the 
skin  was  worn  from  my  back  to  an  extent  al 
most  equal  to  the  size  of  the  knapsack. 

One  night  more  was  passed  in  the  woods, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  next  forenoon  we 
came  out  upon  the  wide  plain,  without  trees, 
which  lies  south  and  west  of  Sandusky  city. 
The  houses  of  the  village  were  in  plain  sight. 
About  a  mile  from  the  lake  I  hid  my  wife  and 
children  in  the  bushes,  and  pushed  forward.  I 
was  attracted  by  a  house  on  the  left,  between 
which  and  a  small  coasting  vessel  a  number 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  121 

of  men  were  passing  and  repassing  with  great 
activity.  Promptly  deciding  to  approach  them, 
I  drew  near,  and  scarcely  had  I  come  within 
hailing  distance,  when  the  captain  of  the 
schooner  cried  out,  "  Hollo  there,  man  !  you 
want  to  work  ?  "  "  Yes,  sir  !  "  shouted  I. 
"  Come  along,  come  along ;  I'll  give  you  a 
shilling  an  hour.  Must  get  off  with  this 
wind."  As  I  came  near,  he  said,  "  O,  you 
can't  work  ;  you're  crippled."  "  Can't  I?"  said 
I ;  and  in  a  minute  I  had  hold  of  a  bag  of 
corn,  and  followed  the  gang  in  emptying  it 
into  the  hold.  I  took  my  place  in  the  line  of 
laborers  next  to  a  colored  man,  and  soon  got 
into  conversation  with  him.  "  How  far  is  it 
to  Canada  ?  "  He  gave  me  a  peculiar  look, 
and  in  a  minute  I  saw  he  knew  all.  "  Want 
to  go  to  Canada  ?  Come  along  with  us,  then. 
Our  captain's  a  fine  fellow.  We're  going  to 
Buffalo."  "  Buffalo ;  how  far  is  that  from 
Canada  ?  "  "  Don't  you  know,  man  ?  Just 
across  the  river."  I  now  opened  my  mind 
frankly  to  him,  and  told  him  about  my  wife 
and  children.  "  I'll  speak  to  the  captain,"  said 
11 


122  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

he.  He  did  so,  and  in  a  moment  the  captain 
took  me  aside,  and  said,  "  The  Doctor  says 
you  want  to  go  to  Buffalo  with  your  family." 
"  Yes,  sir."  «  Well,  why  not  go  with  me ! " 
was  his  frank  reply.  "  Doctor  says  you've  got 
a  family."  "  Yes  sir."  "  Where  do  you 
stop  ?  "  "  About  a  mile  back."  "  How  long 
have  you  been  here  ?  "  "  No  time,"  I  answer 
ed,  after  a  moment's  hesitation.  "  Come,  my 
good  fellow,  tell  us  all  about  it.  You're  run 
ning  away,  ain't  you?"  I  saw  he  was  a 
friend,  and  opened  my  heart  to  him.  "  How 
long  will  it  take  you  to  get  ready  ?  "  "  Be 
here  in  half  an  hour,  sir."  "  Well,  go  along 
and  get  them."  Off  I  started ;  but,  before  I 
had  run  fifty  feet,  he  called  me  back.  "  Stop," 
says  he ;  "  you  go  on  getting  the  grain  in. 
When  we  get  off,  I'll  lay  to  over  opposite  that 
island,  and  send  a  boat  back.  There's  a  lot 
of  regular  nigger-catchers  in  the  town  below, 
and  they  might  suspect  if  you  brought  your 
party  out  of  the  bush  by  daylight."  I  worked 
away  with  a  will.  Soon  the  two  or  three 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  were  aboard,  the 


OP   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  123 

hatches  fastened  down,  the  anchor  raised,  and 
the  sails  hoisted. 

I  watched  the  vessel  with  intense  interest 
as  she  left  her  moorings.  Away  she  went 
before  the  free  breeze.  Already  she  seemed 
beyond  the  spot  at  which  the  captain  agreed 
to  lay  to,  and  still  she  flew  along.  My  heart 
sunk  within  me ;  so  near  deliverance,  and 
again  to  have  my  hopes  blasted,  again  to  be 
cast  on  my  own  resources.  I  felt  that  they 
had  been  making  a  mock  of  my  misery.  The 
sun  had  sunk  to  rest,  and  the  purple  and  gold 
o£  the  west  were  fading  away  into  grey.  Sud 
denly,  however,  as  I  gazed  with  weary  heart, 
the  vessel  swung  round  into  the  wind,  the 
sails  flapped,  and  she  stood  motionless.  A 
moment  more,  and  a  boat  was  lowered  from 
her  stern,  and  with  steady  stroke  made  for 
uhe  point  at  which  I  stood.  I  felt  that  my 
hour  of  release  had  come.  On  she  came,  and 
in  ten  minutes  she  rode  up  handsomely  on  to 
the  beach. 

My  black  friend  and  two  sailors  jumper. 
out,  and  we  started  off  at  once  for  my  wih 


124  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

and  children.  To  my  horror,  they  were  gone 
from  the  place  where  I  left  them.  Overpow 
ered  with  fear,  I  supposed  they  had  been 
found  and  carried  off.  There  was  no  time  to 
lose,  and  the  men  told  me  I  would  have  to  go 
alone.  Just  at  the  point  of  despair,  however, 
I  stumbled  on  one  of  the  children.  My  wife, 
it  seemed,  alarmed  at  my  long  absence,  had 
given  up  all  for  lost,  and  supposed  I  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  When  "  she 
heard  my  voice,  mingled  with  those  of  the 
others,  she  thought  my  captors  were  leading 
me  back  to  make  me  discover  my  family,  and 
in  the  extremity  of  her  terror  she  had  tried  to 
hide  herself.  I  had  hard  work  to  satisfy  her. 
Our  long  habits  of  concealment  and  anxiety 
had  rendered  her  suspicious  of  every  one ;  and 
her  agitation  was  so  great  that  for  a  time  she 
was  incapable  of  understanding  what  I  said, 
and  went  on  in  a  sort  of  paroxysm  of  distress 
and  fear.  This,  however,  was  soon  over,  and 
the  kindness  of  my  companions  did  much  to 
facilitate  the  matter. 

And  now  we  were  off  for  the  boat.     It  re- 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  125 

quired  little  time  to  embark  our  baggage  — 
one  convenience,  at  least,  of  having  nothing. 
The  men  bent  their  backs  with  a  will,  and 
headed  steadily  for  a  light  hung  from  the  ves 
sel's  mast  I  was  praising  God  in  my  soul. 
Three  hearty  cheers  welcomed  us  as  we 
reached  the  schooner,  and  never  till  my  dying 
day  shall  I  forget  the  shout  of  the  captain  — 
he  was  a  Scotchman  — "  Coom  up  on  deck, 
and  clop  your  wings  and  craw  like  a  rooster ; 
you're  a  free  nigger  as  sure  as  the  devil." 
Round  went  the  vessel,  the  wind  plunged  into 
her  sails  as  though  innoculated  with  the  com 
mon  feeling  —  the  water  seethed  and  hissed 
passed  her  sides.  Man  and  nature,  and,  more 
than  all,  I  felt  the  God  of  man  and  nature, 
who  breathes  love  into  the  heart  and  maketh 
the  winds  his  ministers,  were  with  us.  My 
happiness,  that  night,  rose  at  times  to  positive 
pain.  Unnerved  by  so  sudden  a  change  from 
destitution  and  danger  to  such  kindness  and 
blessed  security,  I  wept  like  a  child. 

The  next  evening  we  reached  Buffalo,  but 
it  was  to  late  too  cross  the  river  that  night. 
11* 


126  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

"  You  see  those  trees,"  said  the  noble  hearted 
captain  next  morning,  pointing  to  a  group  in 
the  distance ;  "  they  grow  on  free  soil,  and  as 
soon  as  your  feet  touch  that  you're  a  man.  I 
want  to  see  you  go  and  be  a  freeman.  I'm 
poor  myself,  and  have  nothing  to  give  you ;  I 
only  sail  the  boat  for  wages ;  but  I'll  see  you 
across.  Here  Green,"  said  he  to  a  ferryman ; 
"  what  will  you  take  this  man  and  his  family 
t  vcr  ior  —  he's  got  no  money?"  "  Three  shil 
lings."  He  then  took  a  dollar  out  of  his  pocket 
and  gave  it  to  me.  Never  shall  I  forget  the 
spirit  in  which  he  spoke.  He  put  his  hand  on 
my  head  and  said,  "  Be  a  good  fellow,  won't 
you?"  I  felt  streams  of  emotion  running 
down  in  electric  courses  from  head  to  foot. 
"  Yes,"  said  I ;  "  I'll  use  my  freedom  well ; 
I'll  give  my  soul  to  God."  He  stood  waving 
his  hat  as  we  pushed  off  for  the  opposite  shore. 
God  bless  him !  God  -bless  him  eternally  ! 
Amen ! 

It  was  the  28th  of  October,  1830,  in  the 
morning,  when  my  feet  first  touched  the 
Canada  shore.  I  threw  myself  on  the  ground, 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  127 

rolled  in  the  sand,  seized  handfuls  of  it  and 
kissed  them,  and  danced  round  till,  in  the  eyes 
of  several  who  were  present,  I  passed  for  ? 
madman.  "  He's  some  crazy  fellow,"  said  a 
Colonel  Warren,  who  happened  to  be  there. 
"  O,  no,  master!  don't  you  know  ?  I'm  free !" 
He  burst  into  a  shout  of  laughter.  "  Well.  I 
never  knew  freedom  make  a  man  roll  in  the 
sand  in  such  a  fashion."  Still  I  could  not 
control  myself.  I  hugged  and  kissed  my  wife 
and  children,  and,  until  the  first  exuberant 
burst  of  feeling  was  over,  went  on  as  before. 


123  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

NEW   SCENES   AND  A  NEW  HOME. 

A  POOR  MAN  IN  A  STRANGE  LAND.  —  BEGIN  TO  ACQUIRE 

PROPERTY. —  RESUME  PREACHING. BOYS  GO  TO  SCHOOL. 

WHAT  GATE  ME  A  DESIRE  TO  LEARN  TO  READ. A 

DAY  OF  PRAYER  IN  THE  WOODS. 

THERE  was  not  much  time  to  be  lost,  though 
in  frolic  even,  at  this  extraordinary  moment. 
I  was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  had  to 
look  about  me,  at  once,  for  refuge  and  resource. 
I  found  a  lodging  for  the  night;  and  the  next 
morning  set  about  exploring  the  interior  for 
the  means  of  support.  I  knew  nothing  about 
the  country  or  the  people ;  but  kept  my  eyes 
and  ears  open,  and  made  such  inquiries  as  op 
portunity  afforded.  I  heard,  in  the  course  of 
the  day,  of  a  Mr.  Hibbard,  who  lived  some 
six  or  seven  miles  off,  and  who  was  a  rich 
man,  as  riches  were  counted  there,  with  a 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  129 

large  farm,  and  several  small  tenements  on  it, 
which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  letting  to  his 
laborers.  To  him  I  went,  immediately,  though 
the  character  given  him  by  his  neighbors  was 
not,  by  any  means,  unexceptionably  good. 
But  I  thought  he  was  not,  probably,  any 
worse  than  those  I  had  been  accustomed  to 
serve,  and  that  I  could  get  along  with  him,  if 
honest  and  faithful  work  would  satisfy  him. 
In  the  afternoon  I  found  him,  and  soon  struck 
a  bargain  with  him  for  employment.  I  asked 
him  if  there  was  any  house  where  he  would 
let  me  live.  He  said  "  yes,"  and  led  the  way 
to  an  old  two-story  sort  of  shanty,  into  the 
lower  story  of  which  the  pigs  had  broken,  and 
had  apparently  made  it  their  resting-place  for 
some  time.  Still,  it  was  a  house,  and  I  forth 
with  expelled  the  pigs,  and  set  about  cleaning 
it  for  the  occupancy  of  a  better  sort  of  tenants. 
With  the  aid  of  hoe  and  shovel,  hot  water 
and  a  mop,  I  got  the  floor  into  a  tolerable 
condition  by  midnight,  and  only  then  did  I 
rest  from  my  labor.  The  next  day  I  brought 
the  rest  of  the  Hensons  to  my  house,  and 


130  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

though  there  was  nothing  there  but  bare  walls 
and  floors,  we  were  all  in  a  state  of  great  de 
light,  and  my  wife  laughed  and  acknowledged 
that  it  was  worth  while,  and  that  it  was  better 
than  a  log  cabin  with  an  earth-floor.  I  begged 
some  straw  of  Mr.  Hibbard,  and  confining  it 
by  logs  in  the  corners  of  the  room,  I  made 
beds  of  it  three  feet  thick,  upon  which  we  re 
posed  luxuriously  after  our  long  fatigues. 

Another  trial  awaited  me  which  I  had  not 
anticipated.  In  consequence  of  the  great  ex 
posures  we  had  been  through,  my  wife  and  all 
the  children  fell  sick;  and  it  was  not  without 
extreme  peril  that  they  escaped  with  their 
lives. 

My  employer  soon  found  that  my  labor  was 
of  more  value  to  him  than  that  of  those  he 
was  accustomed  to  hire ;  and  as  I  conse 
quently  gained  his  favor,  and  his  wife  took 
quite  a  fancy  to  mine,  we  soon  procured  some 
of  the  comforts  of  life,  while  the  necessaries 
of  food  and  fuel  were  abundant.  I  remained 
with  Mr.  Hibbard  three  years,  sometimes 
working  on  shares,  and  sometimes  for  wages; 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  131 

and  I  managed  in  that  time  to  procure  some 
pigs,  a  cow,  and  a  horse.  Thus  my  condition 
gradually  improved,  and  I  felt  that  my  toils 
and  sacrifices  for  freedom  had  not  been  in 
vain.  Nor  were  my  labors  for  the  improve 
ment  of  myself  and  others,  in  more  important 
things  than  food  and  clothing,  without  effect. 
It  so  happened  that  one  of  my  Maryland 
friends  arrived  ia  this  neighborhood,  and  hear 
ing  of  my  being  here,  inquired  if  I  ever 
preached  now,  and  spread  the  reputation  I 
had  acquired  elsewhere  for  my  gifts  in  the 
pulpit.  I  had  said  nothing  myself,  and  had 
not  intended  to  say  anything  of  my  having 
ever  officiated  in  that  way.  I  went  to  meet 
ing  with  others,  when  I  had  an  opportunity, 
and  enjoyed  the  quiet  of  the  Sabbath  when 
there  was  no  assembly.  I  would  not  refuse 
to  labor  in  this  field,  however,  when  desired  it) 
do  so;  and  I  hope  it  is  no  violation  of  mo 
desty  to  state  the  fact,  that  I  was  frequently 
called  upon,  not  by  blacks  alone,  but  by  all 
classes  in  my  vicinity  —  the  comparatively 
educated,  as  well  as  the  lamentably  ignorant 


'32  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

—  to  speak  to  them  on  their  duty,  responsibil 
ity,  and  immortality,  on  their  obligations  to 
their  Maker,  their  Saviour,  and  themselves. 

It  may,  nay,  I  am  aware  it  must,  seem 
strange  to  many,  that  a  man  so  ignorant  as 
myself,  unable  to  read,  and  having  heard  so 
little  as  I  had  of  religion,  natural  or  revealed, 
should  be  able  to  preach  acceptably  to  persons 
who  had  enjoyed  greater  advantages  than  my 
self.  I  can  explain  it  only  by  reference  to 
our  Saviour's  comparison  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  to  a  plant  which  may  spring  from  a 
seed  no  bigger  than  a  mustard-seed,  and  may 
yet  reach  such  a  size,  that  the  birds  of  the  air 
may  take  shelter  therein.  Religion  is  not  so 
much  knowledge  as  wisdom  ;  and  observation 
upon  what  passes  without,  and  reflection  upon 
what  passes  within  a  man's  heart,  will  give 
him  a  larger  growth  in  grace  than  is  imagined 
by  the  devoted  adherents  of  creeds,  or  the  con 
fident  followers  of  Christ,  who  call  him  "  Lord, 
Lord,"  but  do  not  the  things  which  he  says. 

Mr.  Hibbard  was  good  enough  to  give  my 
eldest  boy,  Tom,  two  quarters'  schooling,  to 


OF   HIS    OWN   LIFE.  133 

which  the  schoolmaster  added  more,  of  his 
own  kindness,  so  that  my  boy  learned  to  read 
fluently  and  well.  It  was  a  great  advantage, 
not  only  to  him,  but  to  me ;  for  I  used  to  get 
him  to  read  much  to  me  in  the  Bible,  espec 
ially  on  Sunday  mornings,  when  I  was  going 
to  preach ;  and  I  could  easily  commit  to  mem 
ory  a  few  verses,  or  a  chapter,  from  hearing 
him  read  it  over. 

One  beautiful  summer  Sabbath  I  rose  early, 
and  called  him  to  come  and  read  to  me. 
"  Where  shall  I  read,  father  ?  "  "  Anywhere, 
my  son,"  I  answered,  for  I  knew  not  how  to 
direct  him.  He  opened  upon  Psalm  ciii. 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul :  and  all  that  is 
within  me,  bless  his  holy  name ; "  and  as  he 
read  this  beautiful  outpouring  of  gratitude, 
which  I  now  first  heard,  my  heart  melted 
within  me.  I  recalled,  with  all  the  rapidity  of 
which  thought  is  capable,  the  whole  current 
of  my  life  ;  and,  as  I  remembered  the  dangers 
and  afflictions  from  which  the  Lord  had  deliv 
ered  me,  and  compared  my  present  condition 
with  what  it  had  been,  not  only  my  heart  but 
12 


134  FATHER   HEXSON'S   STORY 

my  eyes  overflowed,  and  I  could  neither  check 
nor  conceal  the  emotion  which  overpowered 
me.  The  words,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul," 
with  which  the  Psalm  begins  and  ends,  were 
all  I  needed,  or  could  use,  to  express  the  full 
ness  of  my  thankful  heart.  When  he  had  fin 
ished,  Tom  turned  to  me  and  asked,  "  Father, 
who  was  David  ?  "  He  had  observed  my  ex 
citement,  and  added,  "  He  writes  pretty,  don't 
he  ?  "  and  then  repeated  his  question.  It  was 
a  question  I  was  utterly  unable  to  answer.  I 
had  never  heard  of  David,  but  could  not  bear 
to  acknowledge  my  ignorance  to  my  own 
child.  So  I  answered  evasively,  u  He  was  a 
man  of  God,  my  son."  "  I  suppose  so,"  said 
he,  "  but  I  want  to  know  something  more 
about  him.  Where  did  he  live  ?  What  did 
he  do  ?  "  As  he  went  on  questioning  me,  I 
saw  it  was  in  vain  to  attempt  to  escape,  and 
so  I  told  him  frankly  I  did  not  know.  "  Why, 
father,"  said  he,  "  can't  you  read  ?  "  This  was 
a  worse  question  than  the  other,  and,  if  I  had 
any  pride  in  me  at  the  moment,  it  took  it  all 
out  of  me  pretty  quick.  It  was  a  direct  ques- 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  135 

tion,  and  must  have  a  direct  answer;  so  I  told 
him  at  once  I  could  not.  "  Why  not  ?  "  said 
he.  "  Because  I  never  had  an  opportunity  to 
learn,  nor  anybody  to  teach  me."  "  WelJ,  you 
can  learn  now,  father."  "  No,  my  son,  I  am 
too  old,  and  have  not  time  enough.  I  must 
work  all  day,  or  you  would  not  have  enough 
to  eat."  "  Then  you  might  do  it  at  night." 
"  But  still  there  is  nobody  to  teach  me.  I 
can't  afford  to  pay  anybody  for  it,  and,  of 
course,  no  one  can  do  it  for  nothing."  "  Why, 
father,  /'//  teach  you.  I  can  do  it,  I  know. 
And  then  you'll  know  so  much  more  that  you 
can  talk  better,  and  preach  better."  The  little 
fellow  was  so  earnest,  there  was  no  resisting 
him  ;  but  it  is  hard  to  describe  the  conflicting 
feelings  within  me  at  such  a  proposition  from 
such  a  quarter.  I  was  delighted  with  the  con 
viction  that  my  children  would  have  advanta 
ges  I  had  never  enjoyed  ;  but  it  was  no  slight 
mortification  to  think  of  being  instructed  by  a 
child  of  twelve  years  old.  Yet  ambition,  and 
a  true  desire  to  learn,  for  the  good  it  would  do 
my  own  mind,  conquered  the  shame,  and  I 


136  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

agreed  to  try.     But  I  did  not  reach  this  state 
of  mind  instantly. 

I  was  greatly  moved  by  the  conversation  I 
had  with  Tom,  so  much  so  that  I  could  not 
undertake  to  preach  that  day.  The  congrega 
tion  were  disappointed,  and  I  passed  the  Sun 
day  in  solitary  reflection  in  the  woods.  I  was 
too  much  engrossed  with  the  multitude  of  my 
thoughts  within  me  to  return  home  to  dinner, 
and  spent  the  whole  day  in  secret  meditation 
and  prayer,  trying  to  compose  myself,  and  as 
certain  my  true  position.  It  was  not  difficult 
to  see  that  my  predicament  was  one  of  pro 
found  ignorance,  and  that  I  ought  to  use  every 
opportunity  of  enlightening  it.  I  began  to 
take  lessons  of  Tom,  therefore,  immediately, 
and  followed  it  up  every  evening,  by  the  light 
of  a  pine  knot,  or  some  hickory  bark,  which 
was  the  only  light  I  could  afford.  Weeks 
passed,  and  my  progress  was  so  slow  that  poor 
Tom  was  almost  discouraged,  and  used  to 
drop  asleep  sometimes,  and  whine  a  little  over 
my  dullness,  and  talk  to  me  very  much  as  a 
schoolmaster  talks  to  a  stupid  boy,  till  I  began 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  137 

to  be  afraid  that  my  age,  my  want  of  practice 
in  looking  at  such  little  scratches,  the  daily 
fatigue,  and  the  dim  light,  would  be  effectual 
preventives  of  my  ever  acquiring  the  art  of 
reading.  But  Tom's  perseverance  and  mine 
conquered  at  last,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
winter  I  did  really  learn  to  read  a  little. 

It  was,  and  has  been  ever  since,  a  great 
comfort  to  me  to  have  made  this  acquisition  ; 
though  it  has  made  me  comprehend  better  the 
terrible  abyss  of  ignorance  in  which  I  had 
been  plunged  all  my  previous  life.  It  made 
me  also  feel  more  deeply  and  bitterly  the 
oppression  under  which  I  had  toiled  and 
groaned ;  but  the  crushing  and  cruel  nature 
of  which  I  had  not  appreciated,  till  I  found 
out,  in  some  slight  degree,  from  what  I  had 
been  debarred.  At  the  same  time  it  made  me 
more  anxious  than  before  to  do  something  for 
the  rescue  and  the  elevation  of  those  who 
were  suffering  the  same  evils  I  had  endured, 
and  who  did  not  know  how  degraded  and  ig 
norant  they  really  were. 
12* 


138  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER    XV. 

LIFE    IN    CANADA. 

CONDITION  OF  THE  BLACKS  IN  CANADA. — A  TOUR  OF 
EXPLORATION. APPEAL  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE. IM 
PROVEMENTS. 

AFTER  about  three  years  had  passed,  I 
improved  my  condition  again  by  taking  ser 
vice  with  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Kiseley, 
whose  residence  was  only  a  few  miles  distant, 
and  who  was  a  man  of  more  elevation  of 
mind  than  Mr.  Hibbard,  and  of  superior  abili 
ties.  At  his  place  I  began  to  reflect,  more 
and  more,  upon  the  circumstances  of  the 
blacks,  who  were  already  somewhat  numerous 
in  this  region.  I  was  not  the  only  one  who 
had  escaped  from  the  States,  and  had  settled 
on  the  first  spot  in  Canada  which  they  had 
reached.  Several  hundreds  of  colored  persons 
were  in  the  neighborhood;  and,  in  the  first 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  139 

joy  of  their  deliverance,  were  going  on  in  a 
way  which,  I  could  see,  led  to  little  or  no 
progress  in  improvement.  They  were  content 
to  have  the  proceeds  of  their  labor  at  their 
own  command,  and  had  not  the  ambition  for, 
or  the  perception  of  what  was  within  their 
easy  reach,  if  they  did  but  know  it.  They 
were  generally  working  for  hire  upon  the  lands 
of  others,  and  had  not  yet  dreamed  of  becoming 
independent  proprietors  themselves.  It  soon 
became  my  great  object  to  awaken  them  to  a 
sense  of  the  advantages  which  were  within 
their  grasp ;  and  Mr.  Riseley,  seeing  clearly 
the  justness  of  my  views,  and  willing  to  co 
operate  with  me  in  the  attempt  to  make  them 
generally  known  among  the  blacks,  permitted 
me  to  call  meetings  at  his  house  of  those  who 
were  known  to  be  among  the  most  intelligent 
and  successful  of  our  class.  At  these  meet 
ings  we  considered  and  discussed  the  subject, 
till  we  were  all  of  one  mind ;  and  it  was  agreed, 
among  the  ten  or  twelve  of  us  who  assembled 
at  them,  that  we  would  invest  our  earnings 
in  land,  and  undertake  the  task  —  which, 


140  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

though  no  light  one  certainly  would  yet  soon 
reward  us  for  our  effort  —  of  settling  upon 
wild  lands  which  we  could  call  our  own  ;  and 
where  every  tree  which  we  felled,  and  every 
bushel  of  corn  we  raised,  would  be  for  our 
selves;  in  other  words,  where  we  could  secure 
all  the  profits  of  our  own  labor. 

The  advantages  of  this  course  need  not  be 
dwelt  upon,  in  a  country  which  is  every  day 
exemplifying  it,  and  has  done  so  for  two 
hundred  years  and  more;  and  has,  by  this 
very  means,  acquired  an  indestructible  charac 
ter  for  energy,  enterprise,  and  self-reliance.  It 
was  precisely  the  Yankee  spirit  which  I  wished 
to  instill  into  my  fellow-slaves,  if  possible ; 
and  I  was  not  deterred  from  the  task  by  the 
perception  of  the  immense  contrast  in  all  the 
habits  and  character  generated  by  long  ages 
of  freedom  and  servitude,  activity  and  sloth, 
independence  and  subjection.  My  associates 
agreed  with  me,  and  we  resolved  to  select 
some  spot  among  the  many  offered  to  our 
choice,  where  we  could  colonize,  and  raise  our 
own  crops,  eat  our  own  bread,  and  be,  in  short, 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  141 

our  own  masters.  I  was  deputed  to  explore  the 
country,  and  find  a  place  to  which  I  would  be 
willing  to  migrate  myself;  and  they  all  said 
they  would  go  with  me,  whenever  such  a  one 
should  be  found.  I  set  out  accordingly  in 
the  autumn  of  1834,  and  travelled  on  foot  all 
over  the  extensive  region  between  lakes  On 
tario,  Erie,  and  Huron.  When  I  came  to  the 
territory  east  of  Lake  St.  Clair  and  Detroit 
River,  I  was  strongly  impressed  with  its  fer 
tility,  its  convenience,  and,  indeed,  its  superi 
ority,  for  our  purposes,  to  any  other  spot  I 
had  seen.  I  determined  this  should  be  the 
place ;  and  so  reported,  on  my  return,  to  my 
future  companions.  They  were  wisely  cau 
tious,  however,  and  sent  me  off  again  in  the 
summer,  that  I  might  see  it  at  the  opposite 
seasons  of  the  year,  and  be  better  able  to 
judge  of  its  advantages.  I  found  no  reason 
to  change  my  opinion,  but  upon  going  farther 
towards  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  I  discovered 
an  extensive  tract  of  government  land,  which, 
for  some  years,  had  been  granted  to  a  Mr. 
McCormick  upon  certain  conditions,  and  which 


142  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

he  had  rented  out  to  settlers  upon  such  terms 
as  he  could  obtain.  This  land  being  already 
cleared,  offered  some  advantages  for  the  im 
mediate  raising  of  crops,  which  were  not  to 
be  overlooked  by  persons  wrhose  resources 
were  so  limited  as  ours ;  and  we  determined 
to  go  there  first,  for  a  time,  and  with  the  pro 
ceeds  of  what  we  could  earn  there,  to  make 
our  purchases  in  Dawn  afterwards.  This  plan 
was  followed,  and  some  dozen  or  more  of  us 
settled  upon  these  lands  the  following  spring, 
and  accumulated  something  by  the  crops  of 
wheat  and  tobacco  we  were  able  to  raise. 

I  discovered,  before  long,  that  McCormick 
had  not  complied  with  the  conditions  of  his 
grant,  and  was  not,  therefore,  entitled  to  the 
rent  he  exacted  from  the  settlers.  I  was  ad 
vised  by  Sir  John  Cockburn,  to  whom  I  ap 
plied  on  the  subject,  to  appeal  to  the  legislature 
for  relief.  We  did  so  ;  and  though  McCor 
mick  was  able,  by  the  aid  of  his  friends,  to 
defeat  us  for  one  year,  yet  we  succeeded  the 
next,  upon  a  second  appeal,  and  were  freed 
from  all  rent  thereafter,  so  long  as  we  re- 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  143 

mained.  Still,  this  was  not  our  own  land. 
The  government,  though  it  demanded  no  rent, 
might  set  up  the  land  for  sale  at  any  time, 
and  then  we  should,  probably,  be  driven  off  by 
wealthier  purchasers,  with  the  entire  loss  of  all 
our  improvements,  and  with  no  retreat  pro 
vided.  It  was  manifest  that  it  was  altogether 
better  for  us  to  purchase  before  competition 
was  invited ;  and  we  kept  this  fully  in  mind 
during  the  time  we  stayed  here.  We  re 
mained  in  this  position  six  or  seven  years  ;  and 
all  this  while  the  colored  population  was 
increasing  rapidly  around  us,  and  spreading 
very  fast  into  the  interior  settlements  and  the 
large  towns.  The  immigration  from  the 
United  Sates  was  incessant,  and  some,  I  am 
not  unwilling  to  admit,  were  brought  hither 
with  my  knowledge  and  connivance ;  and  I 
will  now  proceed  to  give  a  short  account  of 
the  plans  and  operations  I  had  arranged  for 
the  liberation  of  some  of  my  brethren,  which  I 
hope  may  prove  interesting  to  the  reader. 


144:  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

CONDUCTING   SLAVES   TO   CANADA. 

SYMPATHY     FOR    THE     SLAVES. JAMES     LIGHTFOOT.  —  MY 

FIRST     MISSION     TO     THE     SOJJTII. — A     KENTUCKY     COM 
PANY    OF    FUGITIVES. SAFE    AT    HOME. 

THE  degraded  and  hopeless  condition  of  a 
slave,  can  never  be  properly  felt  by  him  while 
he  remains  in  such  a  position.  After  I  had 
tasted  the  blessings  of  freedom,  my  mind  re 
verted  to  those  whom  I  knew  were  groaning 
in  captivity,  and  I  at  once  proceeded  to  take 
measures  to  free  as  many  as  I  could.  I 
thought  that,  by  using  exertion,  numbers 
might  make  their  escape  as  I  did,  if  they 
had  some  practical  advice  how  to  proceed. 

I  was  once  attending  a  very  large  meeting  at 
Fort  Erie,  at  which  a  great  many  colored  peo 
ple  were  present.  In  the  course  of  my  preaching 
I  tried  to  impress  upon  them  the  importance 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  145 

of  the  obligations  they  were  under;  first,  to 
God,  for  their  deliverance  ;  and  then,  second 
ly,  to  their  fellow-men,  to  do  all  that  was  in 
their  power  to  bring  others  out  of  bondage. 
In  the  congregation  was  a  man  named  James 
Lightfoot,  who  was  of  a  very  active  temper 
ament,  and  had  obtained  his  freedom  by  flee 
ing  to  Canada,  but  had  never  thought  of  his 
family  and  friends  whom  lie  had  left  behind, 
until  the  time  he  heard  me  speaking,  although 
he  himself  had  been  free  for  some  five  years. 
However,  that  day  the  cause  was  brought 
home  to  his  heart.  When  the  service  was 
concluded  he  begged  to  have  an  interview 
with  me,  to  which  I  gladly  acceded,  and  an 
arrangement  was  made  for  further  conversa 
tion  on  the  same  subject  one  week  from  that 
time.  He  then  informed  me  where  he  came 
from,  also  to  whom  he  belonged,  and  that  he 
had  left  behind  a  dear  father  and  mother,  three 
sisters  and  four  brothers  ;  and  that  they  lived 
on  the  Ohio  River,  not  far  from  the  city  of 
Maysville.  He  said  that  he  never  saw  his 
duty  towards  them  to  be  so  clear  and  unmis- 
13 


146  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

takeable  as  he  did  at  that  time,  and  professed 
himself  ready  to  cooperate  in  any  measures 
that  might  be  devised  for  their  release.  Dur 
ing  the  short  period  of  his  freedom  he  had 
accumulated  some  little  property,  the  whole 
of  which,  he  stated,  he  would  cheerfully  de 
vote  to  carrying  out  those  measures ;  for  he 
had  not  had  any  rest,  night  nor  day,  since  the 
meeting  above  mentioned. 

I  was  not  able  at  that  time  to  propose  what 
was  best  to  be  done,  and  thus  we  parted  ;  but 
in  a  few  days  he  came  to  see  me  again  on  the 
same  errand.  Seeing  the  agony  of  his  heart 
in  behalf  of  his  kindred,  I  consented  to  com 
mence  the  painful  and  dangerous  task  of  en 
deavoring  to  free  those  whom  he  so  much 
loved.  I  left  my  own  family  in  the  hands  of  no 
other  save  God,  and  commenced  the  journey 
alone,  on  foot,  and  travelled  thus  about  four 
hundred  miles.  But  the  Lord  furnished  me 
with  strength  sufficient  for  the  undertaking.  I 
passed  through  the  States  of  New  York,  Penn 
sylvania,  and  Ohio  — free  States,  so  called  — 
and  crossed  the  Ohio  Eiver  into  Kentucky, 


OF  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  147 

and  ultimately  found  his  friends  in  the  place 
he  had  described, 

I  was  an  entire  stranger  to  them,  but  I  took 
with  me  a  small  token  of  their  brother  who 
was  gone,  which  they  at  once  recognized ;  and 
this  was  to  let  them  know  that  he  had  gone  to 
Canada,  the  land  of  freedom,  and  had  now 
sent  a  friend  to  assist  them  in  making  their 
escape.  '  This  created  no  little  excitement. 
But  his  parents  had  become  so  far  advanced 
in  years  that  they  could  not  undertake  the 
fatigue  ;  his  sisters  had  a  number  of  children, 
and  they  could  not  travel ;  his  four  brothers 
and  a  nephew  were  young  men,  and  suffic 
iently  able  for  the  journey,  but  the  thought  of 
leaving  their  father,  and  mother,  and  sisters, 
was  too  painful ;  and  they  also  considered  it 
unsafe  to  make  the  attempt  then,  for  fear  that 
the  excitement  and  grief  of  their  friends  might 
betray  them ;  so  they  declined  going  at  that 
time,  but  promised  that  they  would  go  in  a 
year,  if  I  would  return  for  them. 

To  this  I  assented,  and  then  went  between 
forty  and  fifty  miles  into  the  interior  of  Ken- 


148  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

tucky,  having  heard  that  there  was  a  large 
party  ready  to  attempt  their  escape,  if  they 
had  a  leader  to  direct  their  movements.  *I 
travelled  by  night,  resting  by  day,  and  at 
length  reached  Bourbon  County,  the  place 
where  I  expected  to  find  these  people.  After 
a  delay  of  about  a  week,  spent  in  discussing 
plans,  making  arrangements,  and  other  mat 
ters,  I  found  that  there  were  about  thirty  col 
lected  from  different  States,  who  were  disposed 
to  make  the  attempt.  At  length,  on  a  Satur 
day  night,  we  started.  The  agony  of  parting 
can  be  better  conceived  than  described  ;  as,  in 
their  case,  husbands  were  leaving  their  wives, 
mothers  their  children,  and  children  their  pa 
rents.  This,  at  first  sight,  will  appear  strange, 
and  even  incredible  ;  but,  when  we  take  into 
consideration  the  fact,  that  at  any  time  they 
were  liable  to  be  separated,  by  being  sold  to 
what  are  termed  "  nigger  traders,"  and  the 
probability  that  such  an  event  would  take 
place,  it  will,  I  think,  cease  to  excite  any  sur 
prise. 

We  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Ohio  River 


OF   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  149 

in  safety,  and  arrived  in  Cincinnati  the  third 
night  after  our  departure.  Here  we  procured 
assistance ;  and,  after  stopping  a  short  time  to 
rest,  we  started  for  Richmond,  Indiana.  This 
is  a  town  which  had  been  settled  by  Quakers, 
and  there  we  found  friends  indeed,  who  at 
once  helped  us  on  our  way,  without  loss  of 
time ;  and  after  a  difficult  journey  of  two 
weeks,  through  the  wilderness,  we  reached 
Toledo,  Ohio,  a  town  on  the  south-western 
shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  there  we  took  passage 
for  Canada,  which  we  reached  in  safety.*  I 
then  went  home  to  my  family,  taking  with  me 
a  part  of  this  large  party,  the  rest  finding  their 
friends  scattered  in  other  towns,  perfectly  sat 
isfied  with  my  conduct  in  the  matter,  in  being 
permitted  to  be  the  instrument  of  freeing-  such 
a  number  of  my  fellow-creatures. 
13* 


150  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

SECOND  JOURNEY  ON  THE    UNDERGROUND 
RAILROAD. 

A   SHOWER   OP   STARS.  —  KENTUCKIANS. — A   STRATAGEM. — 

A   PROVIDENCE. CONDUCTED    ACROSS    THE    MIAMI    RIVER 

BY   A    COW. ARRIVAL    AT     CINCINNATI.  —  ONE     OP     TUB 

PARTY    TAKEN    ILL. WE    LEAVE    HIM    TO    DIE.  —  MEET  A 

"  FRIEND."  —  A     POOR     WHITE     MAN.  —  A     STRANGE     IM 
PRESSION. —  ONCE   MORE   IN   CANADA. 

I  REMAINED  at  home,  working  on  my  farm, 
until  the  next  autumn,  soon  after  which  time 
I  had  promised  to  assist  in  the  restoring  to 
liberty  the  friends  of  James  Lightfoot,  the  in 
dividual  who  had  excited  my  sympathy  at  the 
meeting  at  Fort  Erie.  In  pursuance  of  this 
promise,  I  again  started  on  my  long  journey 
into  Kentucky. 

On  my  way,  that  strange  occurrence  hap 
pened,  called  the  great  meteoric  shower.  The 
heavens  seemed  broken  up  into  streaks  of  light 


OF   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  151 

and  falling  stars.  I  reached  Lancaster,  Ohio, 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  found 
the  village  aroused,  and  the  bells  ringing,  and 
the  people  exclaiming,  "  The  day  of  judgment 
is  come  !  "  I  thought  it  was  probably  so  ;  but 
felt  that  I  was  in  the  right  business,  and  walk 
ed  on  through  the  village,  leaving  the  terrified 
people  behind.  The  stars  continued  to  fall  till 
the  light  of  the  sun  appeared. 

On  arriving  at  Portsmouth,  in  the  State  of 
Ohio,  I  had  a  very  narrow  escape  from  being 
detected.  The  place  was  frequented  by  a 
number  of  Kentuckians,  who  were  quite  ready 
to  suspect  a  colored  man,  if  they  saw  any 
thing  unusual  about  him.  I  reached  Ports 
mouth  in  the  morning,  and  waited  until  two 
in  the  afternoon  for  the  steamboat,  so  that  J 
might  not  arrive  in  Maysville  till  after  dark. 
While  in  the  town  I  was  obliged  to  resort  to 
a  stratagem,  in  order  to  avoid  being  questioned 
by  the  Kentuckians  I  saw  in  the  place.  To 
this  end  I  procured  some  dried  leaves,  put 
them  into%  cloth  and  bound  it  all  round  my 
face,  reaching  nearly  to  my  eyes,  and  pretend- 


152  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

ed  to  be  so  seriously  affected  in  my  head  and 
teeth  as  not  to  be  able  to  speak.  I  then  hung 
around  the  village  till  time  for  the  evening 
boat,  so  as  to  arrive  at  Maysville  in  the  night. 
I  was  accosted  by  several  during  my  short 
stay  in  Portsmouth,  who  appeared  very  anx 
ious  to  get  some  particulars  from  me  as  to 
who  I  was,  where  I  was  going,  and  to  whom 
I  belonged.  To  all  their  numerous  inquiries  I 
merely  shook  my  head,  mumbled  put  indis 
tinct  answers,  and  acted  so  that  they  could  not 
get  anything  out  of  me  ;  and,  by  this  artifice, 
I  succeeded  in  avoiding  any  unpleasant  conse 
quences.  I  got  on  board  the  boat  and  reached 
Maysville,  Kentucky,  in  the  evening,  about  a 
fortnight  from  the  time  I  had  left  Canada. 

On  landing  a  wonderful  providence  hap 
pened  to  me.  The  second  person  I  met  in  the 
street  was  Jefferson  Lightfoot,  brother  of  the 
James  Lightfoot  previously  mentioned,  and 
one  of  the  party  who  had  promised  to  escape 
if  I  would  assist  them.  He  stated  that  they 
were  still  determined  to  make  the  attempt,  and 
the  following  Saturday  night  was  named  to 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  153 

put  it  into  execution,  and  preparations  for  the 
journey  were  at  once  commenced.  The  reason 
why  Saturday  night  was  chosen  on  this  and 
the  previous  occasion  was,  that  from  not  hav 
ing  to  labor  the  next  day,  and  being  allowed 
to  visit  their  families,  they  would  not  be  miss 
ed  until  the  time  came  for  their  usual  appear 
ance  in  the  field,  at  which  period  they  would 
be  some  eighty  or  a  hundred  miles  away. 
During  the  interval  I  had  to  keep  myself  con 
cealed  by  day,  and  used  to  meet  them  by  night 
to  make  the  necessary  arrangements. 

For  fear  of  being  detected,  they  started  off 
without  bidding  their  father  or  mother  fare 
well,  and  then,  in  order  to  prevent  the  hounds 
from  following  on  our  trail,  we  seized  a  skiff, 
a  little  below  the  city,  and  made  our  way 
down  the  river.  It  was  not  the  shortest  way, 
but  it  was  the  surest. 

It  was  sixty-five  miles  from  Maysville  to 
Cincinnati,  and  we  thought  we  could  reach 
that  city  before  daylight,  and  then  take  the 
stage  for  Sandusky.  Our  boat  sprung  a  leak 
before  we  had  got  half  way,  and  we  narrowly 


154  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

escaped  being  drowned ;  providentially,  how 
ever,  we  got  to  the  shore  before  the  boat  sunk. 
We  then  took  another  boat,  but  this  detention 
prevented  us  from  arriving  at  Cincinnati  in 
time  for  the  stage.  Day  broke  upon  us  when 
we  were  about  ten  miles  above  the  city,  and 
we  were  compelled  to  leave  our  boat  from  fear 
of  being  apprehended.  This  was  an  anxious 
time.  However,  we  had  got  so  far  away  that 
we  knew  there  was  no  danger  of  being  dis 
covered  by  the  hounds,  and  we  thought  we 
would  go  on  foot.  When  we  got  within  seven 
miles  of  Cincinnati,  we  came  to  the  Miami 
River,  and  we  could  not  reach  the  city  with 
out  crossing  it. 

This  was  a  great  barrier  to  us,  for  the  water 
appeared  to  be  deep,  and  we  were  afraid  to 
ask  the  loan  of  a  boat,  being  apprehensive  it 
might  lead  to  our  detection.  We  went  first 
up  and  then  down  the  river,  trying  to  find  a 
convenient  crossing  place,  but  failed.  I  then 
said  to  my  company,  "  Boys,  let  us  go  up  the 
river  and  try  again."  We  started,  and  after 
going  about  a  mile  we  saw  a  cow  coming  out 


OP  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  155 

of  a  wood,  and  going  to  the  river  as  though 
she  intended  to  drink.  Then  said  I,  "  Boys, 
let  us  go  and  see  what  that  cow  is  about,  it 
may  be  that  she  will  tell  us  some  news."  I 
said  this  in  order  to  cheer  them  up.  One  of 
them  replied,  in  rather  a  peevish  way,  "Oh 
that  cow  can't  talk ; "  but  I  again  urged  them 
to  come  on.  The  cow  remained  until  we  ap 
proached  her  within  a  rod  or  two ;  she  then 
walked  into  the  river,  and  went  straight  across 
without  swimming,  which  caused  me  to  re 
mark,  "  The  Lord  sent  that  cow  to  show  us 
where  to  cross  the  river ! "  This  has  always 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  very  wonderful  event. 

Having  urged  our  way  with  considerable 
haste,  we  were  literally  saturated  with  perspi 
ration,  though  it  was  snowing  at  the  time, 
and  my  companions  thought  that  it  would  be 
highly  dangerous  for  us  to  proceed  through 
the  water,  especially  as  there  was  a  large 
quantity  of  ice  in  the  river.  But  as  it  was  a 
question  of  life  or  death  with  us,  there  was  no 
time  left  for  reasoning ;  I  therefore  advanced 
—  they  reluctantly  following.  The  youngest 


15G  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

of  the  Lightfoots  ere  we  had  reached  midway 
of  the  river,  was  seized  with  violent  contrac 
tion  of  the  limbs,  which  prevented  further  self- 
exertion  on  his  part ;  he  was,  therefore,  carried 
the  remainder  of  the  distance.  After  resort 
ing  to  continued  friction,  he  partially  recov 
ered,  and  we  proceeded  on  our  journey. 

We  reached  Cincinnati  about  eleven  on 
Sunday  morning  —  too  late  for  the  stage  that 
day ;  but  having  found  some  friends,  we  hid 
ourselves  until  Monday  evening,  when  we  re 
commenced  our  long  and  toilsome  journey, 
through  mud,  rain,  and  snow,  towards  Canada. 
We  had  increased  our  distance  about  100 
miles,  by  going  out  of  our  road  to  get  among 
the  Quakers.  During  our  passage  through 
the  woods,  the  boy  before  referred  to  was 
taken  alarmingly  ill,  and  we  were  compelled 
to  proceed  with  him  on  our  backs;  but  finding 
this  mode  of  conveying  him  exceedingly  irk 
some,  we  constructed  a  kind  of  litter  with  our 
shirts  and  handkerchiefs  laid  across  poles. 
By  this  time  we  got  into  the  State  of  Indiana, 
so  that  we  could  travel  by  day  as  long  as  we 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  157 

kept  to  the  woods.  Our  patient  continued  to 
get  worse,  and  it  appeared,  both  to  himself 
and  to  us  all,  that  death  would  soon  release 
him  from  his  sufferings.  He  therefore  begged 
to  be  left  in  some  secluded  spot,  to  die  alone, 
as  he  feared  that  the  delay  occasioned  by  his 
having  to  be  carried  through  the  bush,  might 
lead  to  the  capture  of  the  whole  company. 
With  very  considerable  reluctance  we  acceded 
to  his  request,  and  laid  him  in  a  sheltered 
place,  with  a  full  expectation  that  death  would 
soon  put  an  end  to  his  sufferings.  The  poor 
fellow  expressed  his  readiness  to  meet  the  last 
struggle  in  hope  of  eternal  life.  Sad,  indeed, 
was  the  parting;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  we 
tore  ourselves  away. 

We  had  not,  however,  proceeded  more  than 
two  miles  on  our  journey,  when  one  of  the 
brothers  of  the  dying  man  made  a  sudden 
stop,  and  expressed  his  inability  to  proceed 
whilst  he  had  the  consciousness  that  he  had 
left  his  brother  to  perish,  in  all  probability,  a 
prey  to  the  devouring  wolves.  His  grief  was 
so  great  that  we  determined  to  return,  and  at 
14 


158  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

length  reached  the  spot,  where  we  found  the 
poor  fellow  apparently  dying,  moaning  out 
with  every  breath  a  prayer  to  heaven.  Words 
cannot  describe  the  joyousness  experienced 
by  the  Lightfoots  when  they  saw  their  poor 
afflicted  brother  once  more ;  they  literally 
danced  for  joy.  We  at  once  prepared  to 
resume  our  journey  as  we  best  could,  and 
once  more  penetrated  the  bush.  After  mak 
ing  some  progress,  we  saw,  at  a  little  distance 
on  the  road,  a  wagon  approaching,  and  I  im 
mediately  determined  to  ascertain  whether 
some  assistance  could  not  be  obtained. 

I  at  length  circumvented  the  road,  so  as  to 
make  it  appear  that  I  had  been  journeying  in 
an  opposite  direction  to  that  which  the  wagon 
was  taking.  When  I  came  up  with  the  driver, 
I  bade  him  good  day.  He  said,  "  Where  is 
thee  going  ?  "  "  To  Canada."  I  saw  his  coat, 
heard  his  thee  and  thou,  and  set  him  down  for 
a  Quaker.  I  therefore  plainly  told  him  our 
circumstances.  He  at  once  stopped  his  horses, 
and  expressed  his  willingness  to  assist  us.  I 
returned  to  the  place  where  my  companions 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  159 

were  in  waiting  for  me,  and  soon  had  them 
in  the  presence  of  the  Quaker.  Immediately 
on  viewing  the  sufferer  he  was  moved  to  tears, 
and  without  delay  turned  his  horses'  heads,  to 
proceed  in  the  direction  of  his  home,  although 
he  had  intended  to  go  to  a  distant  market  with 
aJoad  of  produce  for  sale.  The  reception  we 
met  with  from  the  Quaker's  family  overjoyed 
our  hearts,  and  the  transports  with  which  the 
poor  men  looked  upon  their  brother,  now  so 
favorably  circumstanced,  cannot  be  described. 

We  remained  with  this  happy  family  for  the 
night,  and  received  from  them  every  kindness. 
It  was  arranged  that  the  boy  should  remain 
behind  until,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  he 
should  recover.  We  were  kindly  provided  by 
them  with  a  sack  of  biscuit  and  a  joint  of 
meat,  and  once  more  set  our  faces  in  the 
direction  of  Lake  Erie. 

After  proceeding  some  distance  on  our  road, 
we  perceived  a  white  man  approaching,  but  as 
he  was  travelling  alone,  and  on  foot,  we  were 
not  alarmed  at  his  presence.  It  turned  out 
that  he  had  been  residing  for  some  time  in  the 


160  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

South,  and  although  a  free  man,  his  employers 
had  attempted  to  castigate  him  ;  in  return  for 
which  he  had  used  violence,  which  made  it 
necessary  that  he  should  at  once  escape.  We 
travelled  in  company,  and  found  that  his  pres 
ence  was  of  signal  service  to  us  in  delivering 
us  out  of  the  hands  of  the  slave-hunters  who 
were  now  on  our  track,  and  eagerly  grasping 
after  their  prey.  We  had  resolved  on  reaching 
the  lake,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  by  the  fol 
lowing  morning;  we,  therefore,  walked  all 
night. 

Just  as  the  day  was  breaking,  we  reached  a 
wayside  tavern,  immediately  contiguous  to 
the  lake,  and  our  white  companion  having 
knocked  up  the  landlord,  ordered  breakfast  for 
six.  Whilst  our  breakfast  was  in  course  of 
preparation,  we  dosed  off  into  slumber,  wea 
ried  with  our  long-continued  exertion. 

Just  as  our  breakfast  was  ready,  whilst  half 
asleep  and  half  awake,  an  impression  came 
forcibly  upon  me  that  danger  was  nigh,  and 
that  I  must  at  once  leave  the  house.  I  im 
mediately  urged  my  companions  to  follow  me 


OP   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  161 

out,  which  they  were  exceedingly  unwilling 
to  do ;  but  as  they  had  promised  me  submis 
sion,  they  at  length  yielded  to  my  request. 
We  retired  to  the  yard  at  the  side  of  the  house, 
and  commenced  washing  ourselves  with  the 
snow,  which  was  now  up  to  our  knees.  Pre 
sently  we  heard  the  tramping  of  horses,  and 
were  at  once  warned  of  the  necessity  of  secre 
ting  ourselves.  We  crept  beneath  a  pile  of 
bushes  which  were  lying  close  at  hand,  which 
permitted  a  full  view  of  the  road.  The  horse 
men  came  to  a  dead  stop  at  the  door  of  the 
house,  and  commenced  their  inquiries;  my 
companions  at  once  recognized  the  parties  on 
horseback,  and  whispered  their  names  to  me. 
This  was  a  critical  moment,  and  the  loud 
beatings  of  their  hearts  testified  the  dreadful 
alarm  with  which  they  viewed  the  scene.  Had 
we  been  within  doors,  we  should  have  been 
inevitably  sacrificed.  Our  white  friend  pro 
ceeded  to  the  door  in  advance  of  the  landlord, 
and  maintained  his  position.  He  was  at  once 
interrogated  by  the  slave-hunters  whether  he 
H* 


162  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

had  seen  any  negroes  pass  that  way.  He 
said,  yes,  he  thought  he  had.  Their  number 
was  demanded,  and  they  were  told  about  six, 
and  that  they  were  proceeding  in  the  direction 
of  Detroit ;  and  that  they  might  be  some  few 
miles  on  the  road.  They  at  once  reined  their 
horses,  which  were  greatly  fatigued,  through 
having  been  ridden  all  night,  and  were  soon 
out  of  sight.  We  at  length  ventured  into  the 
house,  and  devoured  breakfast  in  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time.  After  what  had  trans 
pired,  the  landlord  became  acquainted  with 
our  circumstances,  and  at  once  offered  to  sail 
us  in  his  boat  across  to  Canada.  '  We  were 
happy  enough  to  have  such  an  offer,  and  soon 
the  white  sail  of  our  little  bark  was  laying  to 
the  wind,  and  we  were  gliding  along  on  our 
way,  with  the  land  of  liberty  in  full  view. 
Words  cannot  describe  the  feelings  experienced 
by  my  companions  as  they  neared  the  shore  ; 
—  their  bosoms  were  swelling  with  inexpress 
ible  joy  as  they  mounted  the  seats  of  the  boat, 
ready,  eagerly,  to  spring  forward,  that  they 


OF   HIS    OWN   LIFE.  163 

might  touch  the  soil  of  the  freeman.  And 
when  they  reached  the  shore,  they  danced  and 
wept  for  joy,  and  kissed  the  earth  on  which 
they  first  stepped,  no  longer  the  SLAVE  —  but 
the  FREE. 

After  the  lapse  of  a  few  months,  on  one 
joyous  Sabbath  morning,  I  had  the  happiness 
of  clasping  the  poor  boy  we  had  left  in  the 
kind  care  of  the  Quaker,  no  longer  attenuated 
in  frame,  but  robust  and  healthy,  and  sur 
rounded  by  his  family.  Thus  my  joy  was 
consummated,  and  superadded  was  the  bless 
ing  of  those  who  were  ready  to  perish,  which 
came  upon  me.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest 
sources  of  my  happiness  to  know,  that  by 
similar  means  to  those  above  narrated,  I  have 
been  instrumental  in  delivering  one  hundred 
and  eighteen  human  beings  out  of  the  cruel 
and  merciless  grasp  of  the  slaveholder. 

Mr.  Frank  Taylor,  the  owner  of  the  Light- 
foots,  whose  escape  I  have  just  narrated,  soon 
after  he  missed  his  slaves,  fell  ill,  and  became 
quite  deranged  ;  but,  on  recovering,  he  was 


164  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

persuaded  by  his  friends  to  free  the  remainder 
of  the  family  of  the  Lightfoots,  which  he  at 
length  did ;  and,  after  a  short  lapse  of  time, 
they  all  met  each  other  in  Canada,  where  they 
are  now  living. 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  165 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

HOME    AT    DAWN. 

CONDITION      IN     CANADA. EFFORTS      IN     BEHALF     OF     MY 

PEOPLE. REV.  MR.  WILSON. A  CONVENTION  OF  BLACKS. 

—  MANUAL-LABOR   SCHOOL. 

I  DID  not  find  that  our  prosperity  increased 
with  our  numbers.  The  mere  delight  the 
slave  took  in  his  freedom,  rendered  him,  at 
first,  contented  with  a  lot  far  inferior  to  that 
which  he  might  have  attained.  Then  his 
ignorance  led  him  to  make  unprofitable  bar 
gains,  and  he  would  often  hire  wild  land  on 
short  terms,  and  bind  himself  to  clear  a  certain 
number  of  acres ;  and  by  the  time  they  were 
clear  and  fitted  for  cultivation,  his  lease  was 
out,  and  his  landlord  would  come  in,  and  raise 
a  splendid  crop  on  the  new  land ;  and  the 
tenant  would,  very  likely,  start  again  on  just 
such  another  bargain,  and  be  no  better  off  at 


166  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

the  end  of  ten  years  than  he  was  at  the  begin 
ning.  Another  way  in  which  they  lost  the 
profits  of  their  labor  was  by  raising  nothing 
but  tobacco,  the  high  price  of  which  was  very 
tempting,  and  the  cultivation  of  which  was  a 
monopoly  in  their  hands,  as  no  white  man 
understood  it,  or  could  compete  with  them  at 
all.  The  consequence  was,  however,  that  they 
had  nothing  but  tobacco  to  sell ;  there  was 
rather  too  much  of  it  in  the  market,  and  the 
price  of  wheat  rose,  while  their  commodity 
was  depressed ;  and  they  lost  all  they  should 
have  saved,  in  the  profit  they  gave  the  trader 
for  his  corn  and  stores. 

I  saw  the  effect  of  these  things  so  clearly 
that  I  could  not  help  trying  to  make  my 
friends  and  neighbors  see  it  too  ;  and  I  set 
seriously  about  the  business  of  lecturing  upon 
the  subject  of  crops,  wages,  and  profit,  just  as 
if  I  had  been  brought  up  to  it.  I  insisted  on 
the  necessity  of  their  raising  their  own  crops, 
saving  their  own  wages,  and  securing  the 
profits  of  their  own  labor,  with  such  plain 
arguments  as  occurred  to  me,  and  were  as 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  167 

clear  to  their  comprehension  as  to  mine.  I 
did  this  very  openly ;  and,  frequently,  my 
audience  consisted  in  part  of  the  very  traders 
whose  inordinate  profits  upon  individuals  T 
was  trying  to  diminish,  but  whose  balance  of 
profit  would  not  be  ultimately  lessened,  be 
cause  they  would  have  so  many  more  persons 
to  trade  with,  who  would  be  able  to  pay  them 
a  reasonable  advance  in  cash,  or  its  equivalent, 
on  all  their  purchases  The  purse  is  a  tender 
part  of  the  system ;  but  I  handled  it  so  gently, 
that  the  sensible  portion  of  my  natural  oppo 
nents  were  not,  I  believe,  offended;  while 
those  whom  I  wished  to  benefit  saw,  for  the 
most  part,  the  propriety  of  my  advice,  and 
took  it.  At  least,  there  are  now  great  numbers 
of  settlers,  in  this  region  of  Canada,  who  own 
their  farms,  and  are  training  up  their  children 
in  true  independence,  and  giving  them  a  good 
elementary  education,  who  had  not  taken  a 
single  step  towards  such  a  result  before  I 
began  to  talk  to  them. 

While  I  remained  at  Colchester,  I  became 
acquainted  with  a  Congregational  missionary 


168  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

from  Massachusets,  by  the  name  of  Hiram 
Wilson,  who  took  an  interest  in  our  people, 
and  was  disposed  to  do  what  he  could  to 
promote  the  cause  of  improvement  which  I 
had  so  much  at  heart.  He  cooperated  with 
me  in  many  efforts,  and  I  have  been  associated 
with  him  from  1836  to  the  present  time.  He 
has  been  a  faithful  friend,  and  still  continues 
his  important  labors  of  love  in  our  behalf. 
Among  other  things  which  he  did  for  us  then, 
he  wrote  to  a  Quaker  friend  of  his,  an  Eng 
lishman,  by  the  name  of  James  C.  Fuller, 
residing  at  Skeneateles,  New  York,  and  en 
deavored  to  interest  him  in  the  welfare  of  our 
struggling  population. 

He  succeeded  so  far,  that  Mr.  Fuller,  who 
was  going  on  a  visit  to  England,  promised  to 
do  what  he  could  among  his  friends  there,  to 
induce  them  to  aid  us.  He  came  back  with 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  which  had  been  sub 
scribed  for  our  benefit.  It  was  a  great  ques 
tion  how  this  sum,  which  sounded  vast  to 
many  of  my  brethren,  should  be  appropriated. 
I  had  my  own  opinion  pretty  decidedly  as  to 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  169 

what  it  was  best  for  us  all  to  do  with  it.  But, 
in  order  to  come  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion, 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  call  a  con 
vention  of  delegates  from  every  settlememt 
of  blacks  that  was  within  reach;  that  all 
might  see  that  whatever  was  decided  on,  was 
sanctioned  by  the  disinterested  votes  of  those 
who  were  thought  by  their  companions,  best 
able  to  judge  what  was  expedient.  Mr.  Wil 
son  and  myself  called  such  a  convention,  there 
fore,  to  meet  in  London,  Upper  Canada,  and 
it  was  held  in  June,  1838. 

I  urged  the  appropriation  of  the  money  to 
the  establishment  of  a  manual-labor  school, 
where  our  children  could  be  taught  those 
elements  of  knowledge  which  are  usually  the 
occupations  of  a  grammar-school ;  and  where 
the  boys  could  be  taught,  in  addition,  the 
practice  of  some  mechanic  art,  and  the  girls 
could  be  instructed  in  those  domestic  arts 
which  are  the  proper  occupation  and  ornament 
of  their  sex.  Such  an  establishment  would 
train  up  those  who  would  afterwards  instruct 
others ;  and  we  should  thus  gradually  become 
15 


170  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

independent  of  the  white  man  for  our  intellect 
ual  progress,  as  we  might  be  also  for  our 
physical  prosperity.  It  was  the  more  neces 
sary,  as  in  many  districts,  owing  to  the  insur 
mountable  prejudices  of  the  inhabitants,  the 
children  of  the  blacks  were  not  allowed  to 
share  the  advantages  of  the  common  school. 
There  was  some  opposition  to  this  plan  in  the 
convention  ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  discus 
sion,  which  continued  for  three  days,  it  ap 
peared  so  obviously  for  the  advantage  of  all  to 
husband  this  donation,  so  as  to  preserve  it  for 
a  purpose  of  permanent  utility,  that  the  pro 
posal  was,  at  last,  unanimously  adopted ;  and 
a  committee  of  three  was  appointed  to  select 
and  purchase  a  sight  for  the  establishment. 
Mr.  Wilson  and  myself  were  the  active  mem 
bers  of  this  committee,  and  after  traversing 
the  country  for  several  months,  we  could  find 
no  place  more  suitable  than  that  upon  which 
I  had  had  my  eye  for  three  or  four  years,  for 
a  permanent  settlement,  in  the  town  of  Dawn. 
We  therefore  bought  two  hundred  acres  of 
fine  rich  land,  on  the  river  Sydenham,  covered 


OP   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  171 

with  a  heavy  growth  of  black  walnut  and  white 
wood,  at  four  dollars  the  acre.  I  had  made  a 
bargain  for  two  hundred  acres  adjoining  this 
lot,  on  my  own  account;  and  circumstances 
favored  me  so,  that  the  man  of  whom  I  pur 
chased  was  glad  to  let  me  have  them  at  a 
large  discount  from  the  price  I  had  agreed  to 
pay,  if  I  would  give  him  cash  for  the  balance 
I  owed  him.  I  transferred  a  portion  of  the 
advantage  of  this  bargain  to  the  institution, 
by  selling  to  it  one  hundred  acres  more,  at  the 
low  price  at  which  I  obtained  them. 

In  1842  I  removed  with  my  family  to 
Dawn,  and  as  a  considerable  number  of  my 
friends  are  there  about  me,  and  the  school  is 
permanently  fixed  there,  the  future  importance 
of  this  settlement  seems  to  be  decided.  There 
are  many  other  settlements  which  are  consid 
erable  ;  and,  indeed,  the  colored  population  is 
scattered  over  a  territory  which  does  not  fall 
far  short  of  three  hundred  miles  in  extent,  in 
each  direction,  and  probably  numbers  not  less 
than  twenty  thousand  persons  in  all.  We 
look  to  the  school,  and  the  possession  of  land- 


172  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

ed  property  by  individuals,  as  two  great  means 
of  the  elevation  of  our  oppressed  and  degraded 
race  to  a  participation  in  the  blessings,  as  they 
have  hitherto  been  permitted  to  share  only  the 
miseries  and  vices,  of  civilization. 

My  efforts  to  aid  them,  in  every  way  in  my 
power,  and  to  procure  the  aid  of  others  for 
them,  have  been  constant.  I  have  made  many 
journeys  into  New  York,  Connecticut,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  Maine,  in  all  of  which  States  I 
have  found  or  made  some  friends  to  the  cause, 
and,  I  hope,  some  personal  friends.  I  have 
received  many  liberal  gifts,  and  experienced 
much  kindness  of  treatment ;  but  I  must  be 
allowed  to  allude  particularly  to  the  donations 
received  from  Boston  —  by  which  we  have 
been  enabled  to  erect  a  saw-mill,  and  thus  to 
begin  in  good  earnest  the  clearing  of  our 
lands,  and  to  secure  a  profitable  return  for  the 
support  of  our  school — as  among  those  which 
have  been  most  welcome  and  valuable  to  us. 

Some  of  the  trips  I  have  made,  have  led  to 
some  incidents  and  observations  which  must 
be  the  theme  of  a  future  chapter. 


OP   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  173 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

LUMBERING    OPERATIONS. 

INDUSTRIAL     PROJECT. FIND      SOME      ABLE      FRIENDS      IN 

BOSTON. PROCURE    FUNDS  AND  CONSTRUCT    A    SAWMILL. 

—  SALES     OF     LUMBER     IN     BOSTON.  —  INCIDENT    IN    THE 
CUSTOM   HOUSE. 

THE  land  on  which  we  settled  in  Canada 
was  covered  with  a  beautiful  forest  of  noble 
trees  of  various  kinds.  Our  people  were  ac 
customed  to  cut  them  down  and  burn  them  on 
the  ground,  simply  to  get  rid  of  them.  Often 
as  I  roamed  through  the  forest,  I  was  afflicted 
at  seeing  such  waste,  and  longed  to  devise 
some  means  of  converting  this  abundant  nat 
ural  wealth  into  money,  so  as  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  people. 

Full  of  this  subject,  I  left  my  home  on  a 
journey  of  observation  through  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  New  England.  I  kept  my 
15* 


174  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

purposes  to  myself,  not  breathing  a  word  of 
my  intentions  to  any  mortal.  I  found  in  New 
York,  mills  where  precisely  such  logs  as  those 
in  Canada  were  sawed  into  lumber,  which  I 
learned  commanded  large  prices.  In  New 
England  I  found  a  ready  market  for  the  black 
walnut,  white  wood,  and  other  lumber,  such 
as  abounded  and  was  wasted  in  Canada. 

On  reaching  Boston,  Mass.  I  made  known 
these  facts  and  my  feelings  to  some  philan 
thropic  gentlemen  with  whom  I  had  become 
acquainted.  It  cannot  be  improper  for  me  to 
mention  the  names  of  these  gentlemen,  who 
lent  so  ready  an  ear  to  my  representations, 
and  placed  so  much  confidence  in  my  judg 
ment,  as  to  furnish  me  with  the  means  of 
starting  what  has  since  proved  a  very  profita 
ble  enterprise. 

Rev.  Ephraim  Peabody  introduced  me  to 
Samuel  Eliot,  Esq.,  who  was  kind  enough  to 
examine  carefully  into  all  my  representations, 
and  to  draw  up  a  sketch  of  them,  which  was 
afterwards  presented  to  Amos  Lawrence,  Esq., 
and  others.  By  means  of  this  a  collection  of 


OF   HIS  OWN  LIFE.  175 

money  to  aid  me  was  made,  to  which  many 
of  the  leading  gentleman  of  Boston  contrib 
uted,  amounting  to  about  fourteen  hundred 
dollars. 

With  this  money  I  returned  to  Canada,  and 
immediately  set  myself  about  building  a  saw 
mill  in  Camden  (then  Dawn).  The  improve 
ment  in  the  surrounding  section  was  astonish 
ing.  The  people  began  to  labor,  and  the  pro 
gress  in  clearing  up  and  cultivating  the  land 
was  quite  cheering. 

But  after  the  frame-work  of  my  mill  was 
completed  and  covered,  my  scanty  funds  were 
exhausted.  This  was  a  trying  time.  I  had 
begun  the  work  in  faith,  I  had  expended  the 
money  honestly,  and  to  the  best  of  my  judg 
ment,  and  now  should  the  whole  enterprise  fail? 
I  immediately  returned  to  my  Boston  friends. 
Amos  Lawrence,  H.  Ingersoll  Bowditch,  and 
Samuel  A.  Elliot,  Esqs.,  listened  to  me  again, 
and  gave  me  to  understand  that  they  deemed 
me  an  honest  man.  They  encouraged  me  in 
my  business  enterprise,  and  the  approval  of 
such  men  was  like  balm  to  my  soul.  They 


176  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY. 

endorsed  a  note  for  me  and  put  it  into  the 
bank,  by  which  I  was  enabled  to  borrow,  on 
my  own  responsibility,  about  eighteen  hun 
dred  dollars  more.  With  this  I  soon  com 
pleted  the  mill,  stocked  it  with  machinery,  and 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  it  in  successful  op 
eration.  I  ought  here  to  add,  that  the  mill 
was  not  my  own  private  property,  but  be 
longed  to  an  association,  which  established  an 
excellent  manual-labor  school,  where  many 
children  and  youth  of  both  sexes  have  been 
educated.  The  school  was  well  attended  by 
both  colored  children,  whites,  and  some  Indi 
ans. 

This  enterprise  having  been  completed  to  a 
great  extent  by  my  own  labor  and  the  labor  of 
my  own  sons,  who  took  charge  of  the  mill,  I 
immediately  began  to  consider  .how  I  could  dis 
charge  my  pecuniary  obligations.  I  chartered 
a  vessel,  and  loaded  it  with  eighty  thousand 
feet  of  good  prime  black  walnut  lumber, 
sawed  in  our  mill,  and  contracted  with  the 
captain  to  deliver  it  for  me  at  Oswego,  N.  Y- 
I  entered  into  a  contract  there  with  a  party  to 


OP   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  177 

have  it  delivered  at  Boston,  but  the  party  hav 
ing  forwarded  it  to  New  York,  failed  to  carry 
it  any  farther.  There  great  efforts  were  made 
to  cheat  me  out  of  the  lumber,  but,  by  the  good 
friendship  of  Mr.  Lawrence,  of  Boston,  who 
furnished  me  the  means  of  having  it  re-shipped, 
I  succeeded  in  bringing  the  whole  eighty  thou 
sand  feet  safe  to  Boston,  where  I  sold  it  to  Mr. 
Jonas  Chickering  for  forty-five  dollars  per  thou 
sand  feet.  The  proceeds  paid  all  expenses,  and 
would  have  cancelled  all  the  debts  I  had  in 
curred  ;  but  my  friends  insisted  that  I  should 
retain  a  part  of  the  funds  for  future  use.  Af 
ter  that,  I  brought  another  large  load  of  lum 
ber  by  the  same  route. 

The  next  season  I  brought  a  large  cargo  by 
the  river  St.  Lawrence,  which  came  direct  to 
Boston,  where,  without  the  aid  of  any  agent 
or  third  party  whatever,  I  paid  my  own  duties, 
got  the  lumber  through  the  Custom  House, 
and  sold  it  at  a  handsome  profit.  A  little  in 
cident  occurred  when  paying  the  duties,  which 
has  often  since  afforded  me  a  great  deal  of 
amusement.  The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  had 


178  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

just  been  passed  in  the  United  States,  which 
made  it  quite  an  offence  to  harbor  or  render 
aid  to  a  fugitive  slave.  When  the  Custom 
House  officer  presented  his  bill  to  me  for  the 
duties  on  my  lumber,  I  jokingly  remarked  to 
him  that  perhaps  he  would  render  himself  lia 
ble  to  trouble  if  he  should  have  dealings  with 
a  fugitive  slave,  and  if  so  I  would  relieve  him 
of  the  trouble  of  taking  my  money.  "  Are 
you  a  fugitive  slave,  Sir  ?  "  "  Yes,  Sir,"  said 
I ;  "  and  perhaps  you  had  better  not  have  any 
dealings  with  me."  "  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with  that,"  said  the  official ;  "  there  is  your 
bill.  You  have  acted  like  a  man,  and  I  deal 
with  you  as  a  man."  I  enjoyed  the  scene,  and 
the  bystanders  seemed  to  relish  it,  and  I  paid 
him  the  money. 

I  look  back  upon  the  enterprise  related  in 
this  chapter  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure,  for 
the  mill  which  was  then  built  introduced  an 
entire  change  in  the  appearance  of  that  sec 
tion  of  the  country,  and  in  the  habits  of  the 
people. 


OP   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  179 


CHAPTER   XX. 

^ISIT     TO     ENGLAND. 

DEBT    ON    THE    INSTITUTION. A    NEW    PECUNIARY     ENTER 
PRISE. —  LETTERS    OF    RECOMMENDATION  TO    ENGLAND. 

PERSONAL     DIFFICULTIES.  CALLED     AN      IMPOSTER.  

TRIUMPHANT   VICTORY   OVER   THESE    TROUBLES. 

MY  interest  in  the  Manual  Labor  School  in 
Dawn,  was  the  means  of  my  visiting  England. 
No  one  who  has  never  engaged  in  such  busi 
ness  can  have  any  idea  of  the  many  difficulties 
connected  with  so  great  an  enterprise.  In 
spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  Association,  a 
debt  of  about  seven  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  rested  upon  it.  A  meeting  of  its  trus 
tees  and  friends,  in  the  year  1849,  was  called 
to  consider  its  condition,  and  to  devise,  if  pos 
sible,  some  means  for  its  relief.  After  a  long 
discussion  of  the  matter,  it  was  finally  detei- 
mined  to  separate  the  concern  into  two  de- 


180         .    FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

partments,  and  put  it  under  the  charge  of  two 
parties,  the  one  to  take  the  mill  and  a  certain 
portion  of  the  land  for  four  years,  and  to  pay 
all  the  debts  of  the  institution  in  that  time ; 
and  the  other  party  to  take  the  other  buildings 
and  land,  and  to  conduct  the  school. 

A  certain  party  was  found  willing  to  assume 
the  school.  But  who  would  be  enterprising 
enough  to  take  the  mill  for  four  years  encum 
bered  with  a  debt  of  seven  thousand  five  hun 
dred  dollars  was  a  very  important  question. 

On  consideration,  having  a  secret  project  in 
my  own  mind,  I  concluded  to  do  it,  provided 
that  Mr.  Peter  B.  Smith  would  assume  an 
equal  share  of  the  responsibility,  and  attend  to 
the  business  of  the  mill.  He  readily  consented. 

My  project  was  to  go  to  England,  carrying 
with  me  some  of  the  best  specimens  of  black 
walnut  boards  our  farm  would  produce,  and 
to  exhibit  them  in  the  great  World's  Industrial 
Exhibition,  then  in  session  at  London,  and 
perhaps  negotiate  for  the  sale  of  lumber.  I 
accordingly  left  for  England,  being  readily  fur 
nished  with  very  complimentary  letters  -of  in- 


OP   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  181 

troduction  to  such  men  as  Thomas  Birmey, 
Samuel  Gurney,  Lord  Brougham,  Hon.  Ab 
bot  Lawrence,  then  American  Minister  to 
England,  from  Rev.  John  Rolfe,  of  Toronto, 
Chief  Justice  Robinson,  Sir  Allen  McNab, 
Col.  John  Prince,  Rev.  Dr.  Duffield,  of  Detroit, 
Michigan,  Judge  Conant,  of  the  same  city, 
Hon.  Ross  Wilkinson,  U.  S.  Judge,  residing 
also  in  Detroit,  Hon.  Charles  Sumner  and 
Amos  Lawrence,  Esq.,  of  Massachusetts. 
From  the  gentlemen  above  mentioned  I  had 
in  England  a  most  cordial  reception,  and  was 
immediately  introduced  to  the  very  best  so 
ciety  in  the  kingdom. 

I  regret  exceedingly  to  make  any  allusions 
to  personal  difficulties,  or  to  individuals  that 
have  pursued  an  unjust  and  unchristian  course 
towards  me  or  others,  but  I  cannot  give  any 
thing  like  a  correct  view  of  this  part  of  my 
history  without,  at  least,  a  brief  allusion, 
which  shall  be  as  delicate  as  I  can  make  it,  to 
some  difficulties. 

It  was  undoubtedly  the  plan  of  certain  in 
dividuals  of  the  party  who  assumed  the  care 
16 


182  FATHER  HENSON 's  STORY 

of  the  school,  probably  from  unworthy  sec 
tarian  feelings,  to  obtain  entire  possession  of 
the  property  of  the  association,  or  certainly, 
completely  to  destroy  my  influence  over  it,  and 
connection  with  it. 

Much  to  my  astonishment,  therefore,  when 
I  had  arrived  in  England,  and  had  been  cor 
dially  received  by  the  men  above  mentioned, 
and  had  preached  in  the  pulpits  of  such  men 
as  Rev.  Messrs.  Thomas  Binney,  Baptist 
Noel,  William  Brock,  James  Sherman,  George 
Smith,  Dr.  Burns,  in  London,  and  had  already 
introduced  my  enterprise  before  a  portion  of 
the  British  public,  I  was  confronted  by  a 
printed  and  published  circular,  to  the  follow 
ing  effect:  "  That  one  styling  himself  Rev. 
Josiah  Henson  was  an  impostor,  obtaining 
money  under  false  pretences  ;  that  he  could 
exhibit  no  good  credentials ;  that  whatever 
money  he  might  obtain  would  not  be  appro 
priated  according  to  the  wish  of  the  donors, 
and  that  the  said  Josiah  Henson  was  an  art 
ful,  skilful,  and  eloquent  man,  and  would 
probably  deceive  the  public."  This  was  a 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  183 

severe  blow,  but  fortunately  I  had  already 
requested  my  friends  to  appoint  a  committee 
of  twelve  persons  to  examine  carefully  into 
the  merits  of  my  enterprise,  which  committee 
should  appoint  a  sub-committee  of  three,  and 
a  treasurer,  to  receive  every  farthing  contrib 
uted  to  me  by  the  public,  and  to  appropriate 
it  only  as  they  should  deem  proper.  This 
committee  had  been  appointed,  and  consisted 
of  Samuel  Gurney,  Samuel  Gurney,  Junior, 
Samuel  Marley,  Esq.,  George  Hitchcock,  Esq., 
Rev.  James  Sherman,  Rev.  Thomas  Binney, 
Rev.  John  Branch,  Eusebius  Smith,  Esq., 
John  Scobell,  Secretary  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Anti-slavery  Society,  Lord  Ashley 
(now  Earl  of  Shaftsbury),  George  Sturge,  and 
Thomas  Sturge.  The  sub-committee  of  three 
were,  John  Scobell,  Rev.  John  Branch,  and 
Eusebius  Smith,  who  appointed  Samuel  Gur 
ney,  Junior,  treasurer.  Many  of  the  above 
names  are  known  throughout  the  world. 

When  the  above  attack  was  made  upon 
me,  a  meeting  of  those  interested  in  my  cause 
was  called,  and  my  accuser,  who  was  in  the 


184  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

country,  was  requested  to  meet  me  face  to 
face. 

I  forbear  to  mention  his  name,  or  to  describe 
particularly  the  sources  of  this  trouble,  because 
I  do  not  wish  to  injure  the  feelings  of  any  per 
son.  The  name,  however,  I  can  at  any  time 
give.  I  believe  all  the  difficulty  arose  from 
little  petty  jealousies,  fostered,  perhaps,  by  the 
unworthy  influences  of  slavery,  over  the  mis 
guided  people  who  were  for  a  time  misled  by 
false  representations. 

We  met  before  a  company  of  English  gen 
tlemen,  who  heard  all  that  my  accuser  had  to 
say.  They  asked  me  for  a  reply.  I  simply 
re-stated  to  them  all  the  facts  I  had  previously 
made  known.  I  reminded  them  that  a  man 
who  devotes  himself  to  do  good,  must  and  will 
be  misunderstood  and  have  enemies.  I  called 
their  attention  to  the  misinterpretation  of  their 
own  motives  made  by  their  enemies.  I  then 
related  to  them  the  parable  of  Christ  about 
the  wheat  and  the  tares.  My  recommendatory 
letters  were  re-read  —  a  sufficient  reply  to  the 
allegation  that  I  was  an  impostor. 


OF   HIS    OWN   LIFE.  185 

They  were  pleased  to  assure  me  of  their 
entire  satisfaction  ;  but  to  give  perfect  quiet 
to  the  public  they  determined,  at  their  own 
expense,  to  send  an  agent  to  Canada,  to  make 
a  full  inquiry  into  the  matter,  and  advised 
me  to  accompany  him.  Accordingly  John 
Scobell  and  myself  started  for  Canada  imme 
diately.  I  had  already  collected  nearly  seven 
teen  hundred  dollars,  which,  of  course,  re 
mained  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer. 

A  mass  meeting,  of  all  interested  in  the 
matter,  was  called  in  the  institution  on  the 
premises.  A  large  assemblage  met,  and  Rev. 
John  Rolfe  of  Toronto,  presided.  A  thorough 
examination  into  the  records  of  the  institution 
was  made..  The  originator  of  the  slander 
against  me  denied  having  made  it;  it  was 
proved  upon  him,  and  the  whole  convention 
unanimously  repudiated  the  false  charges.  Mr. 
Scobell  remained  in  Canada  about  three  months, 
and  before  leaving,  sent  me  a  letter,  informing 
me  that  whenever  I  should  see  fit  to  return  to 
England,  I  should  find  in  the  hands  of  Amos 
Lawrence,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  a  draft  to  defray 
16* 


186  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

the  expenses  of  the  journey.     Accordingly,  in 
the  latter  part  of  1851,  I  returned. 

The  ground  was  now  prepared  for  me,  and 
I  reaped  an  abundant  harvest.  The  whole 
debt  of  the  institution  was  cancelled  in  a  few 
months,  when  I  was  recalled  to  Canada  by 
the  fatal  illness  of  my  wife.  Several  very 
interesting  occurrences  happened  during  my 
stay  in  England,  which  I  must  relate  in  ano 
ther  chapter. 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE,  187 


CHAPTER    XXL 

THE   WORLD'S  FAIR  IN   LONDON. 

MY    CONTRIBUTION    TO     THE     GREAT    EXHIBITION. — DIFFI 
CULTY  WITH  THE   AMERICAN  SUPERINTENDENT. HAPPY 

RELEASE.  —  THE    GREAT     CROWD. — A     CALL    FROM    THE 
QUEEN. — MEDAL  AWARDED   TO   ME. 

I  HAVE  already  mentioned  that  the  first  idea 
which  suggested  to  me  the  plan  of  going  to 
England,  was  to  exhibit,  at  the  Great  World's 
Fair,  in  London,  some  of  the  best  specimens 
of  our  black  walnut  lumber,  in  the  hope  that 
it  might  lead  to  some  sales  in  England.  For 
this  purpose  I  selected  some  of  the  best  boards 
out  of  the  cargo  which  I  had  brought  to 
Boston,  which  Mr.  Chickering  was  kind 
enough  to  have  properly  packed  in  boxes,  and 
sent  to  England  in  the  American  ship  which 
carried  the  American  products  for  exhibition. 
The  boards  which  I  selected  were  four  in 


188  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

number,  excellent  specimens,  about  seven  feet 
in  length  and  four  feet  in  width,  of  beautiful 
grain  and  texture.  On  their  arrival  in  Eng 
land,  I  had  them  planed  and  perfectly  polished, 
in  French  style,  so  that  they  actually  shone 
like  a  mirror. 

The  history  of  my  connection  with  the 
World's  Fair  is  a  little  amusing.  Because  my 
boards  happened  to  be  carried  over  in  the 
American  ship,  the  superintendent  of  the 
American  Department,  who  was  from  Boston, 
(I  think  his  name  was  Riddle),  insisted  that 
my  lumber  should  be  exhibited  in  the  Ameri 
can  department.  To  this  I  objected.  I  was 
a  citizen  of  Canada,  and  my  boards  were 
from  Canada,  and  there  was  an  apartment  of 
the  building  appropriated  to  Canadian  pro 
ducts.  I  therefore  insisted  that  my  boards 
should  be  removed  from  the  American  De 
partment,  to  the  Canadian.  But,  said  the 
American,  "  You  cannot  do  it.  All  these 
things  are  under  my  control.  You  can  exhibit 
what  belongs  to  you  if  you  please,  but  not  a 
single  thing  here  must  be  moved  an  inch  with 
out  my  consent." 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  189 

This  was  rather  a  damper  to  me.  I  thought 
his  position  was  rather  absurd,  but  how  to 
move  him  or  my  boards  seemed  just  then 
beyond  my  control. 

A  happy  thought,  however,  occurred  to  me. 
Thought  I,  if  this  Yankee  wants  to  retain  my 
furniture,  the  world  shall  know  who  it  belongs 
to.  I  accordingly  hired  a  painter  to  paint 
in  good  large  white  letters  on  the  tops  of 
my  boards :  "  THIS  is  THE  PRODUCT  OF  THE 

INDUSTRY     OF     A     FUGITIVE     SLAVE     FROM     THE 

UNITED  STATES,  WHOSE  RESIDENCE  is  DAWN, 
CANADA."  This  was  done  early  in  the  morning. 
In  due  time  the  American  superintendent 
came  around,  and  found  me  at  my  post.  The 
gaze  of  astonishment  with  which  he  read  my 
inscription,  was  laughable  to  witness.  His 
face  was  black  as  a  thunder-cloud.  "  Look 
here,  Sir,"  said  he ;  "  What,  under  heaven, 
have  you  got  up  there  ?  "  —  "  O,  that  is  only 
a  little  information  to  let  the  people  know 
who  I  am."  — "  But  don't  you  know  better 
than  that.  Do  you  suppose  I  am  going  to 
have  that  insult  up  there?"  The  English 


190  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

gentlemen  began  to  gather  around,  chuckling 
with  half-suppressed  delight,  to  see  the  wrath 
of  the  Yankee.  This  only  added  fuel  to  the 
fire.  "  Well,  Sir,"  said  he,  "  do  you  suppose  I 
am  going  to  bring  that  stuff  across  the  Atlan 
tic  for  nothing  ?  "  —  "I  have  never  asked  you 
to  bring  it  for  nothing.  I  am  ready  to  pay 
you,  and  have  been  from  the  beginning."  — 
"  Well,  Sir,  you  may  take  it  away,  and  carry 
it  where  you  please."  —  "  O,"  said  I,  "  I  think, 
as  you  wanted  it  very  much,  I  will  not  disturb 
it.  You  can  have  it  now."  —  "  No,  Sir ;  take 
it  away  !  "  —  "I  beg  your  pardon,  Sir,"  said  I, 
"  when  I  wanted  to  remove  it  you  would  not 
allow  it,  and  now,  for  all  me,  it  shall  remain.'' 
In  the  meantime  the  crowd  enjoyed  it  and  so 
did  I.  The  result  was,  that  by  the  next  day 
the  boards  were  removed  to  their  proper  place 
at  no  expense  to  me,  and  no  bill  was  ever 
presented  against  me  for  carrying  the  lumber 
across  the  Atlantic. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  in  that  im 
mense  exhibition,  my  humble  contribution  re 
ceived  its  due  share  of  attention.  Many  con- 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  191 

versations  did  1  have  with  individuals  of  that 
almost  innumerable  multitude  from  every  na 
tion  under  heaven.  Perhaps  my  complexion 
attracted  attention,  but  nearly  all  who  passed, 
paused  to  look  at  me,  and  at  themselves  as  re 
flected  in  my  large  black  walnut  mirrors. 

Among  others  the  Queen  of  England,  Vic 
toria,  preceded  by  her  guide,  arid  attended  by 
her  cortege,  paused  to  view  me  and  my  prop 
erty.  I  uncovered  my  head  and  saluted  her 
as  respectfully  as  I  could,  and  she  was  pleased 
with  perfect  grace  to  return  my  salutation.  "  Is 
he  indeed  a  fugitive  slave  ?  "  I  heard  her  in 
quire  ;  and  the  answer  was,  "  He  is  indeed, 
and  that  is  his  work." 

But  notwithstanding  such  pleasant  occur 
rences,  the  time  wore  heavily  away.  The  im 
mense  .crowd,  kept  in  as  perfect  order  as  a  sin 
gle  family,  became  wearisome  to  me,  and  I 
was  not  sorry,  as  related  in  a  preceding  chap 
ter,  to  return  to  Canada,  leaving  my  boards  on 
exhibition. 

On  going  again  to  England  the  exhibition 
was  still  in  progress.  There  seemed  no  dim- 


192  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

inution  of  the  crowd.  Like  the  waters  of  the 
great  Mississippi,  the  channel  was  still  full, 
though  the  individuals  were  changed. 

But  among  all  the  exhibitors  from  every 
nation  in  Europe,  and  from  Asia,  and  Amer 
ica,  and  the  Isles  of  the  Sea,  there  was  not  a 
single  black  man  but  myself.  There  were 
negroes  there  from  Africa,  brought  to  be  ex 
hibited,  but  no  exhibitors  but  myself.  Though 
my  condition  was  wonderfully  changed  from 
what  it  was  in  my  childhood  and  youth,  yet  it 
was  a  little  saddening  to  reflect  that  my  peo 
ple  were  not  more  largely  represented  there. 
The  time  will  yet  come,  I  trust,  when  such  a 
state  of  things  will  no  longer  exist- 

At  the  close  of  the  exhibition,  on  my  return 
to  Canada,  I  received  from  England  a  large 
quarto  bound  volume  containing  a  full  descrip 
tion  of  all  the  objects  presented  at  the  exhibi 
tion,  the  names  of  officers  of  all  the  commit 
tees,  juries,  exhibitors,  prizes,  etc.,  etc.  Among 
others  I  found  my  own  name  recorded ;  and 
there  were  in  addition  awarded  to  me  a  bronze 
medal,  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  Queen  and 


OF   HIS    OWN   LIFE.  193 

royal  family,  of  the  size  of  life,  and   several 
other  objects  of  interest. 

These  things  I  greatly  prize.  After  having 
fully  succeeded  in  my  mission  to  England, 
having  released  myself  from  the  voluntarily- 
assumed  debt  in  behalf  of  the  manual-labor 
school,  and  having  received  these  testimonials 
of  honor,  I  returned  home  to  Canada,  contented 
and  happy.  While  in  England  I  was  permit 
ted  to  enjoy  some  excellent  opportunities  to 
witness  its  best  society,  which  I  propose  to  re 
late  in  the  following  chapter. 
17 


194  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

VISITS    TO    THE   RAGGED    SCHOOLS. 

SPEECH    AT    SUNDAY     SCHOOL    ANNIVERSARY. INTERVIEW 

WITH    LORD    GREY. INTERVIEW   WITH    THE    ARCHBISHOP 

OF    CANTERBURY,    AND    DINNER    WITH     LORD    JOHN     RUS 
SELL,    THE    GREAT    EVENTS    OF   MY    LIFE. 

WHILE  in  England  I  was  frequently  called 
upon  to  speak  at  public  meetings  of  various 
kinds.  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Ragged 
School  enterprise,  and  frequently  addressed 
the  schools,  and  also  public  meetings  held  in 
their  behalf.  I  spent  two,  months  of  May,  in 
that  country,  and  attended  many  of  the  great 
anniversaries,  and  was  called  upon  to  speak  at 
many  of  them.  On  several  occasions  I  did 
what  I  could  to  make  known  the  true  condi 
tion  of  slaves,  in  Exeter  Hall  and  other  places. 
On  one  occasion,  I  recollect,  an  eminent  man 
from  Pennsylvania,  was  addressing  the  arini- 


OF    HIS   OWN   LIFE.  195 

versary  of  a  Sabbath  School  Union,  who 
boasted  of  the  great  benefits  of  Sunday 
Schools  in  the  United  States,  and  asserted 
that  all  classes  indiscriminately  enjoyed  their 
blessings.  I  felt  bound  to  contradict  him,  and 
after  putting  to  the  speaker  a  few  questions 
which  he  stammeringly  answered,  I  told  the 
immense  meeting  that  in  the  Southern  States, 
the  great  body  of  the  colored  people  were  al 
most  entirely  neglected,  and  in  many  places 
they  were  excluded  altogether ;  and  that  even 
in  the  most  of  the  Northern  States,  the  great 
mass  of  the  colored  children  were  not  sought 
out  and  gathered  into  Sunday  Schools.  This 
created  some  little  storm,  but  my  own  per 
sonal  observation  and  experience  carried  con 
viction  to  the  people. 

Being  thus  introduced  to  the  public,  I  be 
came  well  acquainted  with  many  of  the  lead 
ing  men  of  England.  Lord  Grey  made  a 
proposition  to  me,  which,  if  circumstances 
had  permitted,  I  should  have  been  glad  to  at 
tempt.  It  was  to  go  to  India  and  there  super 
intend  some  great  efforts  made  by  the  govern- 


196  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

ment  to  introduce  the  culture  of  cotton  on  the 
American  plan.  He  promised  to  me  an  ap 
pointment  to  an  office,  and  a  good  salary. 
Had  it  not  been  for  my  warm  interest  in  my 
Canadian  enterprise,  I  should  have  accepted 
his  proposal. 

One  of  the  most  pleasing  incidents  for  me 
now  to  look  back  upon,  was  a  long  interview 
which  I  was  permitted  to  enjoy  with  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury.  The  elevated  social 
position  of  this  man,  the  highest  beneath  the 
crown,  is  well  known  to  all  those  acquainted 
with  English  society.  Samuel  Gurney,  the 
noted  philanthropist,  introduced  me,  by  a  note 
and  his  family  card,  to  his  grace,  the  arch 
bishop.  He  received  me  kindly  in  his  palace. 
I  immediately  entered  upon  a  conversation 
with  him,  upon  the  condition  of  my  people, 
and  the  plans  I  had  in  view.  He  expressed  the 
strongest  interest  in  me,  and  after  about  a  half 
hour's  conversation  he  inquired,  "  At  what  uni 
versity,  Sir,  did  you  graduate ? "  "I  graduated, 
your  grace,"  said  I  in  reply,  "  at  the  university 
of  adversity."  "  The  university  of  adversity," 


or  PUS  OWN  LIFE.  197 

said  he, looking  up  with  astonishment;  "where 
is  that  ?  "  I  saw  his  surprise,  and  explained. 
"  It  was  my  lot,  your  grace,"  said  I,  "  to  be 
born  a  slave,  and  to  pass  my  boyhood  and  all 
the  former  part  of  my  life  as  a  slave.  I  never 
entered  a  school,  never  read  the  Bible  in  my 
youth,  and  received  all  of  my  training  under  the 
most  adverse  circumstances.  This  is  what  I 
meant  by  graduating  in  the  university  of  ad 
versity."  "  I  understand  you,  Sir,"  said  he. 
"  But  is  it  possible  that  you  are  not  a  schol 
ar  ?  "  "I  am  not,"  said  I.  "  But  I  should 
never  have  suspected  that  you  were  not  a  lib 
erally  educated  man.  I  have  heard  many  ne 
groes  talk,  but  have  never  seen  one  that  could 
use  such  language  as  you.  Will  you  tell  me, 
Sir,  how  you  learned  our  language  ?  "  I  then 
explained  to  him,  as  well  as  I  could,  my  early 
life  ;  that  it  had  always  been  my  custom  to 
observe  good  speakers,  and  to  imitate  only 
those  who  seemed  to  speak  most  correctly. 
"It  is  astonishing,"  said  the  archbishop.  "And 
is  it  possible  that  you  were  brought  up  igno 
rant  of  religion  ?  How  did  you  attain  to  the 


198  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

knowledge  of  Christ  ?  "  I  explained  to  him, 
in  reply,  that  a  poor  ignorant  slave  mother  had 
taught  me  to  say  the  Lord's  Prayer,  though  I 
did  not  know  then  how,  truly,  to  pray.  "  And 
how  were  you  led  to  a  better  knowledge  of  the 
Saviour?"  I  answered  that  it  was  by  the 
hearing  of  the  Gospel  preached.  He  then 
asked  me  to  repeat  the  text,  and  to  explain  all 
the  circumstances.  I  told  him  of  the  first  ser 
mon  I  heard,  of  the  text,  "  He,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  tasted  death  for  every  man."  "  A  beau 
tiful  text  was  that,"  said  the  archbishop,  and 
so  affected  was  he  by  my  simple  story  that  he 
shed  tears  freely. 

I  had  been  told  by  Samuel  Gurney  that  per 
haps  the  archbishop  would  give  me  an  inter 
view  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour ;  I  glanced  at  the 
clock  and  found  that  I  had  already  been  there 
an  hour  and  a  half,  and  arose  to  depart.  He 
followed  me  to  the  door,  and  begged  of  me  if 
ever  I  came  to  England  to  call  and  see  him 
again  ;  and  shaking  hands  affectionately  with 
me,  while  the  tears  trembled  in  his  eyes,  he 
put  into  my  hands  graciously  five  golden  sov- 


OF   HIS   OWN   LIFE.  199 

ereigns,  (about  twenty-five  dollars,)  and  bade 
me  adieu.  I  have  always  esteemed  him  as  a 
warm-hearted  Christian. 

Thus  ended  the  interview  with  the  venerable 
Archbishop  of  England.  On  my  second  visit 
to  England,  I  had  an  invitation,  in  company 
with  a  large  number  of  Sabbath  School  Teach 
ers,  to  spend  a  day  on  the  beautiful  grounds  of 
Lord  John  Russell,  then  Prime  Minister  of  Eng 
land.  His  magnificent  park,  filled  with  deer, 
of  all  colors,  and  from  all  climes,  and  sleek 
hares,  which  the  poet  COWPER  would  have 
envied,  with  numberless  birds,  whose  plumage 
rivalled  the  rainbow  in  gorgeous  colors,  to 
gether  with  the  choicest  specimens  of  the  finny 
tribe,  sporting  in  their  native  element,  drew  from 
me  the  involuntary  exclamation:  "  O,  how 
different  the  condition  of  these  happy,  sportive, 
joyful,  creatures,  from  what  was  once  my  own 
condition,  and  what  is  now  the  lot  of  millions 
of  my  colored  brethren  in  America ! "  This 
occupancy  of  the  elegant  grounds  of  Eng 
land's  Prime  Minister,  for  the  day,  by  a  party 
of  Sabbath  School  Teachers,  was  what  we 


200  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

should  call,  in  America,  a  pic-nic,  with  this 
difference,  that,  instead  of  each  teacher  pro 
viding  his  own  cakes,  and  pies,  and  fruit,  they 
were  furnished  by  men  and  women,  who  were 
allowed  to  come  on  to  the  grounds,  with  every 
variety  of  choice  eatables  for  sale.  After 
strolling  over  these  charming  grounds,  enjoy 
ing  the  beautiful  scenery,  and  the  happy  gam 
bols  of  the  brute  creation,  and  the  conversation 
of  the  many  intelligent  men  and  women,  with 
whom  we  came  in  contact,  we  were  most  un 
expectedly,  at  five  o'clock,  sent  for  to  visit  the 
elegant  mansion  of  the  proprietor.  There  we 
found  what  I  will  call  a  surprise  party,  or  at 
any  rate,  we  were  taken  by  surprise,  for  we 
were  ushered,  three  hundred  of  us  at  least,  into 
a  spacious  dining  hall,  whose  dimensions  could 
not  have  been  less  than  one  hundred  feet  by 
sixty,  and  here  were  tables,  groaning  under 
every  article  of  luxury  for  the  palate,  which 
England  could  supply,  and  to  this  bountiful 
repast  we  were  all  made  welcome.  I  was 
invited  to  take  the  head  of  the  table ;  I  never 
felt  so  highly  honored.  The  blessing  was 
invoked  by  singing  the  two  following  verses. 


OF   HIS    OWN   LTFR.  201 

"  Bo  present  at  our  table,  Lord, 
Be  here  and  everywhere  adored  : 
These  creatures  bless, 
And  grant  that  we  may  feast 
In  Paradise  with  thee  !  " 

After  dinner,  various  toasts  were  proposed, 
on  various  subjects,  and  in  my  humble  way  I 
offered  the  following : 

"  First  to  England.  Honor  to  the  brave,  freedom  t#.  the 
Slave,  success  to  British  emancipation.  God  bless  the 
Queen !  " 

Cheers  and  laughter  followed  the  reading  of 
this  toast,  succeeded  by  the  usual  English 
exclamations,  "  Up,  up,  up  again  !  "  I  again 
arose  and  gave,  To  our  most  Sovereign  Lady, 
the  Queen : 

"  May  she  have  a  long  life,  and  a  happy  death.  May  she 
reign  in  righteousness,  and  rule  in  love  ! " 

And  to  her  illustrious  consort,  Prince  Albert : 

"May  he  have  peace  at  home,  pleasure  abroad,  love  his 
Queen,  and  serve  the  Lord !  " 

Among  the  distinguished  persons  who  made 


202  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

speeches  on  this  joyous  occasion,  I  will  men 
tion  the  names  of  Rev.  William  Brock,  Hon. 
Samuel  M.  Peto,  and  a  Mr.  Bess,  brother-in- 
law  of  Mr.  Peto,  with  his  accomplished  and 
beautiful  lady.  Thus  ended  one  of  the  plea- 
santest  days  of  my  life. 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  203 


CHAPTER   XXIIL 

CLOSING   UP    MY   LONDON   AGENCY. 

MY  NARRATIVE  PUBLISHED.  —  LE-TTER  FROM  HOME  AP 
PRISING  ME  OF  THE  SICKNESS  OF  MY  WIFE.  —  DEPAR 
TURE  FROM  LONDON. — ARRIVAL  AT  HOME. — MEETING 
WITH  MY  FAMILY.  —  THE  GREAT  SORROW  OF  MY  LIFE, 
THE  DEATH  OF  MY  WIFE. 

THE  dinner  at  Lord  John  Russell's,  as  de 
tailed  in  the  previous  chapter,  was  in  the 
month  of  June,  1852  ;  from  that  time  to  the 
first  of  August  I  was  busily  employed  in 
finishing  up  all  matters  connected  with  my 
agency,  in  which  I  was  very  successful,  hav 
ing  accomplished  the  objects  of  my  mission. 
During  the  month  of  August,  I  was  engaged 
in  publishing  a  narrative  of  incidents  in  my 
slave-life,  which  I  had  been  urgently  request 
ed  to  do  by  some  of  the  noblest  men  and  wo 
men  in  England.  Just  as  I  had  completed  the 


204  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

work,  and  issued  an  edition  of  two  thousand 
copies,  I  received,  on  the  third  of  September, 
a  letter  from  my  family  in  Canada,  stating 
that  my  beloved  wife,  the  companion  of  my 
life,  the  sharer  of  my  joys  and  sorrows,  lay  at 
the  point  of  death,  and  that  she  earnestly  de 
sired  me  to  return  immediately,  that  she  might 
see  me  once  more  before  she  bid  adieu  to 
earth.  This  was  a  trying  hour  for  me.  I  was 
in  England,  four  thousand  miles  from  my 
home.  I  had  just  embarked  in  an  enterprise 
which  I  had  every  reason  to  suppose  would  be 
a  very  profitable  undertaking.  The  first  edition 
of  my  book  was  ready  for  sale,  and  now  What 
shall  I  do  ?  was  the  question  which  I  asked 
myself.  Shall  I  remain  here  and  sell  ten  thou 
sand  copies  of  my  book,  and  make  a  hand 
some  sum  of  money  for  myself  and  family,  or 
shall  I  leave  all  and  hasten  to  the  bedside  of 
my  dying  wife  ?  I  was  not  long  in  deciding 
the  question.  I  will  leave  my  books  and  stere 
otype  plates,  and  all  my  property  behind,  and 
go.  And  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  of  Sep 
tember,  having  received  the  letter  from  home 


OF  HIS   OWN  LIFE.  205 

at  four  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  third,  I 
was  on  my  way  from  London  to  Liverpool^ 
and  embarked  from  Liverpool  on  the  fifth,  in 
the  steamer  Canada,  bound  for  Boston.  On 
the  twentieth  of  the  same  month  I  arrived  at 
my  own  Canadian  home.  Those  who  have 
been  placed  in  similar  situations,  can  realize 
what  must  have  been  my  feelings  as  I  drew 
near  my  humble  dwelling.  I  had  heard  noth 
ing  since  the  information  contained  in  the  let 
ter  which  reached  me  at  Liverpool.  I  knew 
not  whether  my  dear  wife,  the  mother  of  my 
children,  she  who  had  travelled  with  me,  sad 
and  solitary,  and  foot-sore,  from  the  land  of 
bondage  ;  who  had  been  to  me  a  kind,  and 
affectionate,  and  dutiful  wife,  for  forty  years, 
I  knew  not  "whether  she  was  still  alive,  or 
whether  she  had  entered  into  rest. 

A  merciful  Father  had,  however,  kindly  pro 
longed  her  life,  and  we  were  permitted  once 
more  to  meet.  And  oh !  such  a  meeting ;  it 
was  worth  more  to  me  than  all  the  fancied 
gains  from  my  English  book.  I  was  met  in 
the  yard  by  four  of  my  daughters,  who  rushed 
18 


206  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

to  my  arms,  delighted  at  my  unexpected  re 
turn.  They  begged  me  not  to  go  in  to  see 
mother,  until  they  should  first  go  and  prepare 
her  for  it,  thinking  very  wisely  that  the  shock 
would  be  too  great  for  her  poor  shattered 
nerves  to  bear.  I  consented  that  they  should 
precede  me.  They  immediately  repaired  to 
her  sick  room,  and  by  gradual  stages  prepared 
her  mind  for  our  meeting.  When  I  went  to 
her  bedside,  she  received  and  embraced  me 
with  the  calmness  and  fortitude  of  a  Chris 
tian,  and  even  chided  me  for  the  strong  emo 
tions  of  sorrow  which  I  found  it  utterly  impos 
sible  to  suppress.  I  found  her  perfectly  calm 
and  resigned  to  the  will  of  God,  awaiting  with 
Christian  firmness  the  hour  for  her  summons. 
She  was  rejoiced  to  see  me  once  more,  while 
at  the  same  time  she  said  that  perhaps  she  had 
done  wrong  in  allowing  me  to  be  sent  for  to 
return,  leaving  my  business  behind,  with  all  its 
flattering  prospects.  I  told  her  that  I  was 
more  than  satisfied,  that  I  was  truly  thankful 
to  my  Heavenly  Father  for  granting  us  this 
interview,  no  matter  what  the  pecuniary  sacri- 


OF  HIS  OWN  LIFE.  207 

fice  might  be.  We  talked  over  our  whole 
past  life  as  far  as  her  strength  would  permit, 
reviewing  the  many  scenes  of  sorrow  and 
trouble,  as  well  as  the  many  bright  and  happy 
days  of  our  pilgrimage,  until  exhausted  nature 
sought  repose,  and  she  sunk  into  a  quiet  sleep. 
The  day  following  she  revived ;  my  return 
seeming  to  inspire  her  with  the  hope  that  pos 
sibly  she  might  again  be  restored  to  health.  It 
was  not,  however,  so  to  be ;  but  God  in  his 
mercy  granted  her  a  reprieve,  and  her  life  was 
prolonged  a  few  weeks.  I  thus  had  the  mel 
ancholy  satisfaction  of  watching  day  and  night 
by  her  bed  of  languishing  and  pain,  and  was 
permitted  to  close  her  eyes  when  the  final 
summons  came.  She  blessed  me,  and  blessed 
iier  children,  commending  us  to  the  ever 
watchful  care  of  that  Saviour  who  had  sus 
tained  her  in  so  many  hours  of  trial;  and 
finally,  after  kissing  me  and  each  one  of  the 
children,  she  passed  from  earth  to  heaven 
without  a  pang  or  a  groan,  as  gently  as  the 
falling  to  sleep  of  an  infant  on  its  mother's 
breast 


208  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY 

"  Who  would  not  wish  to  die  like  those 

Whom  God's  own  spirit  deigns  to  bless  ? 
To  sink  into  that  soft  repose, 
Then  wake  to  perfect  happiness  1 " 

I  can  truly  and  from  an  overflowing  heart 
say,  that  she  was  a  sincere  and  devoted  Chris 
tian,  and  a  faithful  and  kind  wife  to  me,  even 
up  to  the  day  of  her  death  arranging  all  our 
domestic  matters  in  such  a  manner  as  to  con 
tribute  as  largely  as  possible  to  my  comfort 
and  happiness. 

Rest  in  peace,  dear  wife.  If  I  am  faithful 
to  the  end,  as  thou  wert,  we  shall  ere  long 
meet  again  in  that  world  where  the  sorrows 
of  life  shall  not  be  remembered  or  brought 
into  mind. 


OP   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  209 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

CLOSING    CHAPTER, 

CONTAINING  AN  ACCURATE  ACCOUNT  OP  THE  PAST  AND 
PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVES  IN  CAN 
ADA,  WITH  SOME  REMARKS  ON  THEIR  FUTURE  PROS 
PECTS. 

I  HAVE  been  requested  by  many  friends  in 
this  country  to  devote  a  chapter  of  my  book 
to  the  fugitive  slaves  in  Canada;  to  a  state 
ment  of  their  present  numbers,  condition,  pros 
pects  for  the  future,  etc.  At  the  tirrle  of  my 
first  visit  to  Canada,  in  the  year  1830,  there 
were  but  a  few  hundred  fugitive  slaves  in  both 
Canadas ;  there  are  now  not  less  than  thirty- 
five  thousand.  At  that  time  they  were  scat 
tered  in  all  directions,  and  for  the  most  part 
miserably  poor,  subsisting  not  unfrequently 
on  the  roots  and  herbs  of  the  fields  ;  now  many 
of  them  own  large  and  valuable  farms,  and 
18* 


210  FATHER  BENSON'S  STORY 

but  few  can  be  found  in  circumstances  of  des 
titution  or  want.  In  1830  there  were  no 
schools  among  them,  and  no  churches,  and 
only  occasional  preaching.  We  have  now 
numerous  churches,  and  they  are  \vell  filled 
from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath  with  attentive  listen 
ers  ;  our  children  attend  the  Sabbath  School, 
and  are  being  trained  as  we  trust  for  Heaven. 
We  depend  principally  upon  our  farms  for 
subsistence,  but  some  of  our  number  are  good 
mechanics — blacksmiths,  carpenters,  masons, 
shoemakers,  etc.,  etc.  •  We  have  found  the 
raising  of  stock  very  profitable,  and  can  show 
some  of  the  finest  specimens  of  horse-flesh  to 
be  found  on  this  continent,  and  we  find  a 
ready  market  for  all  our  products.  The  soil  is 
fertile  and  yields  an  abundant  return  for  the 
husbandman's  labor;  and,  although  the  season 
is  short,  yet  ordinarily  it  is  long  enough  to  ripen 
corn,  wheat,  rye,  oats,  and  the  various  produc 
tions  of  a  Northern  New  England  or  New 
York  farm.  Of  late  considerable  attention 
has  been  paid  to  the  cultivation  of  fruit  trees, 
apples,  cherries,  plums,  peaches,  quinces,  cur- 


OF   HIS   OWN  LIFE.  211 

rants,  gooseberries,  strawberries,  etc.,  and  they 
are  doing  well,  and  in  a  few  years  we  doubt 
not  will  be  quite  profitable.  It  is  a  mistaken 
idea  that  many  have,  that  fruit  trees  and  vines 
cannot  be  cultivated  to  advantage  on  account 
of  the  severity  of  the  climate ;  I  have  raised  as 
delicious  sweet  potatoes  on  my  farm  as  I  ever 
saw  in  Kentucky,  and  as  good  a  crop  of  to 
bacco  and  hemp. 

"We  have  at  the  present  time  a  large  num 
ber  of  settlements,  and  connected  with  these 
are  schools  at  which  our  children  are  being 
taught  the  ordinary  branches  of  an  English 
education.  We  are  a  peaceable  people,  living 
at  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  our  white 
neighbors,  and  I  believe  the  day  is  not  far 
distant  when  we  shall  take  a  very  respectable 
rank  among  the  subjects  of  her  majesty,  the 
excellent  and  most  gracious  Queen  of  England 
and  the  Canadas.  Even  now,  the  condition 
and  prospects  of  a  majority  of  the  fugitive 
slaves  in  Canada  is  vastly  superior  to  that  of 
most  of  the  free  people  of  color  in  the  North 
ern  States ;  and  if  thousands  who  are  hanging 


212  FATHER  HENSON'S  STORY. 

about  at  the  corners  of  streets  waiting  for  a 
job,  or  who  are  mending  old  clothes,  or  black 
ing  boots  in  damp  cellars  in  Boston,  New 
York,  and  other  large  cities,  would  but  come 
among  us  and  bring  their  little  ones  and  settle 
down  upon  our  fine  lands,  it  would  be  but  a 
few  years  before  they  would  find  themselves 
surrounded  by  a  pleasant  and  profitable  home, 
and  their  children  growing  up  around  them 
with  every  advantage  for  a  good  education, 
and  fitting  themselves  for  lives  of  usefulness 
and  happiness.  The  climate  is  good,  the  soil 
is  good,  the  laws  protect  us  from  molestation ; 
each  and  all  may  sit  under  their  own  vine  and 
fig  tree  with  none  to  molest  or  make  them 
afraid.  We  are  a  temperate  people ;  it  is  a 
rare  sight  to  see  an  intoxicated  colored  man  in 
Canada. 

My  task  is  done,  if  what  I  have  written  shall 
inspire  a  deeper  interest  in  my  race,  and  shall 
lead  to  corresponding  activity  in  their  behalf 
I  shall  feel  amply  repaid. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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